NIC teaming

[SKL1]

Hello

NIC teaming

I have an HP ML350 gen9 one cpu 80 Gb ram with a Smart Array P440ar 2 x 1,92 Tb SSD’s in RAID 1, running Windows Server 2016 Std., with optional NIC HP 10GB 2-Port 546SFP+ Adapter connected with one SFP+ cable to a HPE 1420 24G 2SFP+ Switch. That establishes a stable 10Gb connection. From here reliable 1 Gb cabling and further unmanaged swithches. The situation is an eye clinic, and the server holds the filing system (EMR) and a five external databases with lots of scans in high and low res.

We are always looking for more speed…

What could I gain by attaching another SFP+ cable between server and switch and configuring NIC Teaming?

Which Teaming mode, and Load balancing mode, would be optimal?

Best regards,

SKL

[Mark-S · Accepted solution]

I don't believe the 1420 Switch supports static or LACP so you would have to use a Switch Independent mode of NIC Teaming which means that you don’t need to configure anything on the switch, independent modes dont require LACP.

Outbound traffic would be balanced across both ports, inbound traffic would be on a single NIC port.
10Gb inbound, 20Gb outbound theoretically. You would have to look at your traffic patterns to best determine how to load balanace the outbound traffic to optimize it. (IP or MAC Hash).

It would also add in fault tolerance in the event of a port failure on the switch or the NIC interface.