[kwlug-disc] 10GB networking

[Charles M]

Thanks Mark and Cedric, I'll have a look at some of those Mikrotik
switches. Thanks Madison, I thought about that too, but I'm probably
going to buy a switch as there's a third computer that I might end up
transferring files to, since it has the best encoding ability (better
graphics card and processor, but no 5 1/4 bays for me to stick optical
media bays in).

Cheers,

Charles


On Fri, 19 Apr 2024 at 09:52, Cedric Puddy <cedric at ccjclearline.com> wrote:
>
> Hi Charles,
>
> I would put in a 10 Gig switch - connect your computers to it at 10 Gig, so they can talk to each other at high speed, and plug your pfsense box into the same switch (at GigE) so it can provide a connection to the internet.
>
> If you route the traffic /through/ your pfsense box, then you'd need to make it also have at least 2 10 Gig interfaces on the pfsense box + 10 Gig interfaces for each computer, for a start, and then effectively set them up as a switch, or you'd need to put them in two separate networks that the pfsense was routing between, but then you'd need to make the pfsense performant enough to not be a bottle neck... anyway, just don't go there is my thinking.
>
> For new 10GigE (and beyond!) networking gear, I've been liking fs.com and Mikrotik.,  Mikrotik in particular has some low-port count, performant, power efficient switches that are available for very reasonable prices.  Fs.com is also very reasonably priced, but generally bigger and faster units (eg: higher port counts, 10 GigE + 40 Gig + 100 Gig type stuff).  We use a lot of Unifi at work, so that's what I've got in my house currently (a Unifi 8 port 10 GigE aggregation switch, with a UnRaid box and a couple computers at 10Gig connected to it.  My firewall/internet connects to the switch at GigE.).
>
> You don't need to do fibre -- Many, Many, Many 10Gig networking products have RJ45  copper interfaces, and RJ45 SFP+ modules are affordable, common and work just fine.  Cat6A ethernet patch cables are common and cheap, so you can avoid anything "rare", "special" or "delicate" (it's always cool to have specialty stuff, like fibre and DAC cables, until it breaks, or you suddenly need another one and instead of just grabbing out of a bin, you have order the part and wait...)
>
> What you propose should move the bottleneck away from your network interfaces; I predict your next itch will be trying to get faster IO inside the computers...
>
>   Hope that helps!
>   -Cedric
>
>
>
> On Fri, 19 Apr 2024 at 09:04, Charles M <chaslinux at gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>> I must be starting to feel some of the effects of getting older as I
>> sent this to myself rather than the LUG:
>>
>> We have 2 computers in our apartment that I sometimes need to transfer
>> large files between (45GB+ BD/4k files), so I’m starting to think
>> about buying some 10GB networking equipment.
>>
>> Currently, our Internet modem is connected to a pfsense box, which is
>> connected to an 8 port gigabit switch (all ports used).
>>
>> I’m really only concerned with dumping files between two computers,
>> but they’re at least 50 feet away from each other, probably a bit more
>> if I run everything nicely along the baseboards.
>>
>> If I buy a couple of 10GB SPF+ cards and a 10GB switch, do I also need
>> to buy a 3rd 10GB SPF+ card for the PFSENSE box? Internal routing is
>> done via the separate pfsense box. Would the switch be enough to allow
>> the two 10GB cards to route files without polling the pfsense box for
>> each packet? Or do I need a 3rd 10GB card?
>>
>> Because there’s a bit of a distance between the switch and the media
>> centre computer, I’m thinking a multi-mode fibre optic cable is the
>> best way to go? Anything to watch out for with buying these cables and
>> the switch?
>>
>> What else is there to consider? (All Linux boxes) Any special tuning
>> for large files (heard something about enabling jumbo frames, but then
>> does this affect the performance of transferring a lot of smaller
>> files < 1GB)?
>>
>>
>> Thanks all!
>>
>>
>> Charles
>>
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>
>
>
> --
> Best Regards,
> -Cedric
>
> [ cp ] { IT | Photography | Audio | Maker Stuff | cedric at thinkers.org }
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>
>
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--
Charles
Mastodon: @chaslinux at techhub.social