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Setup of GS752TPv2 for RN516 Bond?

dennis48755
Aspirant

Setup of GS752TPv2 for RN516 Bond?

The below discussion was so very helpful.

Setup of GS108T for RN516 Bond needed? 

 

Trying to adopt the suggestions for a GS108T to my GS752TPv2 there are some settings I am unsure about.

 

Under LAG Configuration, which is the best option for Hash Mode?

 

Screenshot_20230122_110753.png

Under Port Configuration, Flow Control, which is the best option?

 

Screenshot_20230122_111605.png

Please let me know if you notice any other settings that should be changed.

 

Thank you

Dennis

Message 1 of 10

Accepted Solutions
StephenB
Guru

Re: Setup of GS752TPv2 for RN516 Bond?

I'd set flow control to asymmetric. If you see any issues, then you could change that over to symmetric or disable. 

 

FYI, if you use symmetric flow control, then if the switch will pause ethernet transmission on both RN516 NICs when the flow control needs to kick in, and resume transmission on both when it is disengaged.  With asymmetric, the flow control on the two RN516 NICs is independent (so one NIC might be paused, but the other one not).

 


@dennis48755 wrote:

Are Frame Size (GS752TPv2) and MTU (RN516) set to the same value?

 


Yes, they normally should be the same.  Also, you should be using that same frame size on all the GS752 ports (whether bonded or not).  1522 is the standard for ethernet, so it can be received by all your devices.  Going over that ("jumbo frames") might also require changing settings on your other ethernet devices that connect to the NAS (for instance, PCs).   

 

I'd start with 1522, and if that gives you good enough performance, then leave well enough alone.

 


@dennis48755 wrote:

 

And is Layer 2+3 the best Hash Type under Mode IEEE 802.3ad LACP in the RN516?

 


With bonding/lag, the sender (RN516 or GS752 in this case) needs to decide what wire to send each packet on.  The hash is the algorithm that makes that decision.  That's not configurable on the GS752 (and it almost certainly is using SRC/DEST MAC addresses of the packets it is sending to the NAS).  I suggest configuring the RN516 to use option 1.  But it really doesn't matter much on the RN516.

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Message 5 of 10

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schumaku
Guru

Re: Setup of GS752TPv2 for RN516 Bond?

There is no right or wrong when it comes to the hash mode or flow control style.

 

Much more performance advantage could be reached by deploying bigger frame sizes on both ends of the (wired) network connection. 

Message 2 of 10
dennis48755
Aspirant

Re: Setup of GS752TPv2 for RN516 Bond?

Thanks schumaku,

 

Would you please recommend a number(s), I'm a rookie and don't want to screw it up.

Also are Frame Size (GS752TPv2) and MTU (RN516) set to the same value?

And is Layer 2+3 the best Hash Type under Mode IEEE 802.3ad LACP in the RN516?

 

Thanks again,

Dennis

Message 3 of 10
schumaku
Guru

Re: Setup of GS752TPv2 for RN516 Bond?

Nothing to screw up (feel free for experimenting!), except in the case of using Jumbo Frames which need to be workable on the complete data path (switch, switch port, and hosts).

Message 4 of 10
StephenB
Guru

Re: Setup of GS752TPv2 for RN516 Bond?

I'd set flow control to asymmetric. If you see any issues, then you could change that over to symmetric or disable. 

 

FYI, if you use symmetric flow control, then if the switch will pause ethernet transmission on both RN516 NICs when the flow control needs to kick in, and resume transmission on both when it is disengaged.  With asymmetric, the flow control on the two RN516 NICs is independent (so one NIC might be paused, but the other one not).

 


@dennis48755 wrote:

Are Frame Size (GS752TPv2) and MTU (RN516) set to the same value?

 


Yes, they normally should be the same.  Also, you should be using that same frame size on all the GS752 ports (whether bonded or not).  1522 is the standard for ethernet, so it can be received by all your devices.  Going over that ("jumbo frames") might also require changing settings on your other ethernet devices that connect to the NAS (for instance, PCs).   

 

I'd start with 1522, and if that gives you good enough performance, then leave well enough alone.

 


@dennis48755 wrote:

 

And is Layer 2+3 the best Hash Type under Mode IEEE 802.3ad LACP in the RN516?

 


With bonding/lag, the sender (RN516 or GS752 in this case) needs to decide what wire to send each packet on.  The hash is the algorithm that makes that decision.  That's not configurable on the GS752 (and it almost certainly is using SRC/DEST MAC addresses of the packets it is sending to the NAS).  I suggest configuring the RN516 to use option 1.  But it really doesn't matter much on the RN516.

Message 5 of 10
dennis48755
Aspirant

Re: Setup of GS752TPv2 for RN516 Bond?

Thanks for your help, but I'm afraid your last post has just gone way over my head.

As I said, I'm a rookie.

 

Dennis

Message 6 of 10
dennis48755
Aspirant

Re: Setup of GS752TPv2 for RN516 Bond?

StephenB, I missed your post.

 

Thank you so much, your specific responses are exactly what I need

I will read through them more carefully.

 

Thanks again.

Dennis

Message 7 of 10
dennis48755
Aspirant

Re: Setup of GS752TPv2 for RN516 Bond?

StephenB,

 

The Hash Mode is configurable on my GS752 v2...

 

Screenshot_20230122_110753.png

 

Below are my RN516 settings...

 

Screenshot 2023-01-22 152407.png

What are your thoughts?

Dennis

Message 8 of 10
StephenB
Guru

Re: Setup of GS752TPv2 for RN516 Bond?


@dennis48755 wrote:

The Hash Mode is configurable on my GS752 v2...

 


Yeah, sorry I missed that.

 

One thing to understand - the performance benefits of link aggregation are often overstated.  LACP can only improve performance when multiple clients are accessing the NAS at the same time. Even then, you often won't see any performance gain if you only have a couple of clients. 

 

If, for example, you have two clients doing large file transfers from the NAS at the same time - there is a 50-50 chance that the RN516 hash will put all the traffic on one ethernet port out of the RN516, and leave the other port idle.  Note that will happen every time.  Changing the hash algorithm in the RN516 can change the outcome for that pair of clients, but doing that will likely have an adverse effect on a different pair of clients. Similarly in the opposite direction - there is a 50-50 chance the GS752 hash will put both transfers on the same ethernet port going to the RN516, and leave the other port idle.  Changing the switch hash might change that (or might not).

 

You can drive yourself crazy over-analyzing this.  IMO, the only time it makes any sense to dive into the hash options on a home network is when you have one pair of clients that you really want to optimize.

 

All of the hash modes on the GS752 are safe choices.  Option 3 isn't great - it would make more sense if you were connecting the GS752 to another switch - so avoid that one.  I'd just go with option 1, and not overthink it.  But if you have a particular pair of clients that do the bulk of the uploads to the NAS, then you could try some speed tests, and see if changing to a different hash (option 2 or 4) improves performance when that pair of clients are both uploading.  With options 2 or 4, you could also assign different IP addresses to the clients, as with those hash options the IP address is included in the hash. Eventually you could discover a hash + IP addresses that optimizes upload performance for that pair of clients.

 

On the RN516, the risk is that the NAS will try to send more data to a client than that client can receive on a single gigabit connection.  That can only happen if you choose layer 3+4, so I would avoid that choice.  Again, I'd just use layer 2.  But layer 2+3 is also ok, so if you have a particular client pair that download from the NAS at the same time that you want to optimize, then you can try changing to layer 2+3, and then (if necessary) adjusting the IP addresses of the clients. Again, eventually you could discover a hash + IP addresses that optimizes download performance for that pair of clients.

 

Message 9 of 10
dennis48755
Aspirant

Re: Setup of GS752TPv2 for RN516 Bond?

Great, thanks StephenB, I'll leave the settings as they are.

 

You've been very helpful both in the original discussion I linked to and now here.

 

I appreciate your specific suggestions and your excellent explanations, they do help me understand.

Dennis

Message 10 of 10
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