Windows 7: New Cisco SG200-08 Switch/Gigabyte EP45-UD3P/Realtek 81xx NIC TEAMING

I just received my new Cisco SG200-08 GB Managed Switch yesterday! Requirements were future proofing my network with IPv6, POE, VOIP, VPN,... Actually this thing has too many features... for now! Awesome switch @ $117!!! Newegg.com - Cisco Small Business SLM2008T-NA 10/100/1000Mbps SG200-08 8-Port Gigabit Ethernet Switch 8 x RJ45

After setting up the switch and rewiring both Realtek 81xx gigabit nics to the new switch with cat6, I set out for all the info on TEAMING the 2 NICs on my Gigabyte EP45 UD3P Mobo. KEY ISSUE HERE: DO YOUR HOMEWORK ON YOUR NICS, MOBO, & "TEAMING UTILITY". This worked for me because I run a mobo with dual nics that support this "teaming" feature. I have a Gigabyte EP45-UD3P utilizing dual Realtek 81xx NICs, which do support "Bundling" the NICs. Any similar mobo with dual 81xx realteks should work the same... read on!

First off, to anybody who thinks this is going to be a magic cure... it isnt! Your 2.0 Gbps possible bandwidth on a pair of teamed NICs isnt going to make the Internet any faster... most "high" speed Internet connections here in USA top out at 50-60 mbps. This teaming, or more correctly link aggregation, can help if you run a media, file, or game server ON A LOCAL NETWORK. It might also help if you are a LAN party fanatic ! ...BYOS (Bring Your Own Switch)!

Link aggregation is often abbreviated LAG. Other terms include: trunking, link bundling, Ethernet/network/NIC bonding, NIC teaming, port channel, EtherChannel, Multi-Link Trunking, and IEEE 802.3ad.

Another thing... This will only work if your switch, or switch/router supports Link Aggregation or one of the other names for it above. Luckily, this was a prerequisite for my network switch upgrade and the Cisco SG200-08 does support it and more!

Next... off to visit the Gigabyte support site and download the drivers for your correct MOBO, OS, and NIC. This should be available for any mobos that have dual Realtek 81xx NICs and possibly others. I run Windows 7 Ultimate, and chose the most recent driver (dated 02/2011)... also make sure you get the Realtek Ethernet Diagnostic Utility http://download.gigabyte.us/FileList...ek_rtltool.exe

Upgrade the drivers first, then install the Realtek Ethernet Diagnostic Utility (REDU). Once installed, I chose Teaming right in the middle of the app, then chose each of my nics, named the "team", and a new 3rd virtual nic was creted showing 2.0 Gbps!


Finally, I configured the new switch to link the two ports into which the "teamed" nics were plugged. My Cisco switch supports up to 4 LAGs, with 8 ports per LAG. If you own the same switch you will find the settings under Port Management > Link Aggregation > LAG Management.

My PC functions as a media server, and it does seem like this has helped improve my local network speeds.

Now, I need to run some tests... any ideas on how or what I can use to test this?

Unfortunately I don't have any ideas. I've never tested my network speeds before and therefore have no experience in these matters.

50-60mbps?! We're lucky to get 3mbps here in Australia!

Average speed here is probably the same... I'm talking about the high speed end of broadband here; Fiber, cable, etc...

Intel® NAS Performance Toolkit

i used this tool kit to Benchmark my NAS over a gigabit connection.

Hi Darryl this is a long shot question but I noticed VPN in your first post. Have you every tried the Windows setup of VPN and if so have you every got it to work? I have tried countless times only to fail with error 807 and others with all ports open and clearly having the thing setup correctly.