Windows 2003 teaming network

Andrew Hancock - VMware vExpert. See if this solution works for you by signing up for a 7 day free trial. What do I get with a subscription? With your subscription - you'll gain access to our exclusive IT community of thousands of IT pros. We can't always guarantee that the perfect solution to your specific problem will be waiting for you. If you ask your own question - our Certified Experts will team up with you to help you get the answers you need. Who are the certified experts? How quickly will I get my solution?

We can't guarantee quick solutions - Experts Exchange isn't a help desk. I know that this is Linux, but these are the standard ways that NIC teaming can happen. On Windows it falls not to the OS but to the NIC drivers to handle this, so not all modes are available in all scenarios.

But bandwidth-increasing teaming is definitely available, we have thousands of boxes doing this without switch support:. Linux Bonding Modes. An unmanaged switch cannot help with NIC teaming. Since it is unmanaged, it will not know that the 2 MAC's it sees are part of a "team".

So, even if your NIC teaming software lets you enable it with an unmanaged switch, what you'll end up doing is load balancing sort of and not increasing bandwidth.

The unmanaged switch will chose one or the other NIC, but not both-does that make sense? Which switch do you have Larry? Ideally the switch should support LACP Plugging both into the same unmanaged switch should give you a 2x send, but only a 1x receive. Is this Intel or Broadcom teaming software? If this is the core switch on a network I would suggest replacing it with a mangaged switch.

At least then you can load balance or increase bandwidth as you require. You will not be able to do this with out the management at the switch end. Personally I would want at least the core network switch managed. With unmanaged switches it will be much harder to diagnose problematic NIC's that are causing network issues. With a managed switch you will also be able to create cirtual LANS, mange bandwidth traffic shaping. I am trying to get the switch replaced with a managed one, but it's out of my hands at the moment.

It won't necessarily increase bandwidth because the switch won't know what's going on, but it won't hurt anything either? You'll be fine. Even if you have both NICs active. Thank you bene. Share Flag. All Comments. Back to Networks Forum. Start or search. Start New Discussion. Create a new discussion If you're asking for technical help, please be sure to include all your system info, including operating system, model number, and any other specifics related to the problem.