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Forum Discussion
Dierect-connect two readeyNas Pros using second eth port
Hi All: For purely performance issues, I am considering direct connecting the second Ethernet port on each of my two RDNP6000 using a cross-over cable. I am thinking of setting up the second port on ...
Gigabit ethernet will be much faster, even with the switch on the path. The extra hop wouldn't impact throughput at all, and the latency is better than a fast connect @ 100 mbits
For instance, a 1500 byte packet takes about 120 microseconds to send down a fast ethernet link. That would also be the latency on a direct connect (plus about 1 nanosecond per foot of cable, which we can ignore for this).
With gigabit, the same packet takes about 12 microseconds to send. In the case of a Netgear switch (GS105/GS108 for instance), add about 15 more microseconds for switch latency, giving you ~40 microseconds total (12 + 15 + 12 more for the second hop).
So throughput is 10x faster, latency is 3x lower than the direct connect - gigabit is just better. You'd be limited by ReadyNAS performance, not by the network.
BTW, you wouldn't need a new subnet, the switch works at layer2, not layer3. So I'm not sure what you mean there. The switch sits between your router and the two ReadyNAS - ideally all your LAN wired connections would move to the switch (with the switch uplink going to the router). The switch learns which ethernet MAC addresses are associated with each LAN port by watching incoming traffic, and routes outbound traffic based on MAC addresses. If it sees a MAC destination it doesn't recognize, it sends the packet out all ports. IP addresses are not needed by the switch at all (though of course they are needed for other stuff).
For instance, a 1500 byte packet takes about 120 microseconds to send down a fast ethernet link. That would also be the latency on a direct connect (plus about 1 nanosecond per foot of cable, which we can ignore for this).
With gigabit, the same packet takes about 12 microseconds to send. In the case of a Netgear switch (GS105/GS108 for instance), add about 15 more microseconds for switch latency, giving you ~40 microseconds total (12 + 15 + 12 more for the second hop).
So throughput is 10x faster, latency is 3x lower than the direct connect - gigabit is just better. You'd be limited by ReadyNAS performance, not by the network.
BTW, you wouldn't need a new subnet, the switch works at layer2, not layer3. So I'm not sure what you mean there. The switch sits between your router and the two ReadyNAS - ideally all your LAN wired connections would move to the switch (with the switch uplink going to the router). The switch learns which ethernet MAC addresses are associated with each LAN port by watching incoming traffic, and routes outbound traffic based on MAC addresses. If it sees a MAC destination it doesn't recognize, it sends the packet out all ports. IP addresses are not needed by the switch at all (though of course they are needed for other stuff).
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