When to use multiple NICs on the server?

From: Fuzzy <granta_at_nospam.student.canberra.edu.au>
Date: Wed, 04 Apr 2001 00:30:08 GMT
Message-ID: <3aca658b.4027841@newshost.interact.net.au>

Hi all.

I'm looking for anecdotal information about then people decide their Oracle db server needs a second (or more) NIC. I know there are probably lots of diagnostics I can run on an existing system ... but this is a case of a client wanting to know what to purchase in advance ... and the one area I'm not sure about is the network card(s).

The system is a hybrid DSS/OLTP thing, with about 20GB of data to start with - growing by about 5 to 10GB per annum, and 3000 users being hosted through a custom middle tier (ultimately translates to about 250 to 500 active concurrent connections to Oracle). The load will be medium to heavy - typically each user will do little work for a period of time, and then issue a flurry of commands (20 to 50 or more in quick succession).

I was wondering what people out there using things like SAP, PeopleSoft, etc. have noticed with similar sized systems. Is one 100Mbit NIC usually fine ... or does this get choked? I realise it is probably difficult to compare with the brief info I've given above, so any info is welcome.

Ciao
Fuzzy
:-) Received on Tue Apr 03 2001 - 19:30:08 CDT