Windows 2003 Server Standard NIC Teaming

[Sleurhutje]

Hi,

Is it possible to team NIC's with Windows 2003 Server Standard Edition?

I have a new Compaq ProLiant ML350T03 with Dual Xeon 2.8, 2GB RAM and RAID 5
with 280GB available. The built-in NIC (NC7760) is connected to a HP
ProCurve 2348 Switch with 40 clients that do extensive reading and writing
of files. The server can handle the amount of data requested and saved but
the bottleneck is the LAN.

Is it possible to team multiple NICs (I have loads of 3C905C-TX-MN cards as
bulk product available) as a low-budget solution to increase LAN speeds on
the server? Upgrading to gigabut is pretty expensive for a small company
like ours.

Any suggestions or experiences? please advice...



Jeroen

 

[Marc Reynolds [MSFT]]

Windows Server 2003 has no built in NIC teaming functionality. You can use
teaming NICs, but the teaming software must be provided by the NIC
manufacturer.

--

Thanks,
Marc Reynolds
Microsoft Technical Support

This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.

 

[Stephen]

Dear Jeroen,

I just want to add information for you in addition to Marc's reply.
I think the 3Com 3C905C is a NIC designed for desktop use, so it is
unlikely that there is a teaming driver for this card. You may want to
check with 3Com about this.

In NIC teaming for load balancing, you can configure either for
Transmit Load Balancing (load balanced for outgoing traffic only) or
Switch-Assisted Load Balancing (load balanced for both incoming and
outgoing traffic). I assume that you prefer the Switch-Assisted Load
Balancing, which in your case, require your switch to support Fast
EtherChannel (FEC by Cisco). I remembered reading somewhere that HP
ProCurve switches (which doesn't has FEC) should be able to support as
well by using port trunking.

Best regards,
Stephen
MCSE + RHCE