topic Question regarding Speed and Duplex settings. in Windows Server 2003

Question regarding Speed and Duplex settings.

Adam D. Savage — Thu, 01 Jun 2006 12:21:18 GMT

I have a server that has the HP Network Configuration Utility installed.. The switch port the server is plugged into is set to gig/full - the HPNU is set to gig/full but the microsoft configuration in device manager for the network card is set to 10/full... Should that be changed to gig/full or auto/auto? im not sure whats up here.. infact alot of our servers are setup like this.. what is the best practice in this matter? Thanks!

-Adam

Re: Question regarding Speed and Duplex settings.

Ivan Ferreira — Thu, 01 Jun 2006 13:55:41 GMT

According to standars, you MUST configure your GB ethernet to AUTO.

Re: Question regarding Speed and Duplex settings.

Adam D. Savage — Thu, 01 Jun 2006 14:07:50 GMT

is that just on the microsoft side? because our switches are configured for gig/full.. and it should be indentical on both ends..

Server gig/full ----- switch gig/full

And in the HPNU its set to gig/full like it should be but in Device manager its set to 10/full... See where someone could get confused? lol... So do i set the microsoft to auto/auto? or leave it at 10mb/full - there is no option in the microsoft device manager to change it to gig/full.. Unless I update the drivers on the nic.

Re: Question regarding Speed and Duplex settings.

Rasheed Sonson — Fri, 02 Jun 2006 08:58:32 GMT

You should set the card to Auto/Auto. Then check the connection speed at the switch. The server may be giving you bad information. If you are still connecting at 10/full then either your ports are set incorrectly or there may be a wiring problem.
As a general rule you should always have the latest drivers for the NIC when connecting at GB.

Re: Question regarding Speed and Duplex settings.

Alan_152 — Fri, 02 Jun 2006 09:29:05 GMT

Most of the time it is recommended that you set both the nic and the switch port to auto/auto for operations a 1Gbps. However, I have found that some switch/nic combinations don't autonegotiate nicely. If that is the case, then start with 100/full on both sides, then try 1000/full, making sure you have an alternate way of getting into the machine in case it fails.

In general, it is best to have both sides of a connection configured the same way. Even though it seems possible, setting one side to a fixed setting and the other to autonegotiate never works right.