Re: When to use multiple NICs on the server?

On Mon, 09 Apr 2001 06:57:39 GMT, Paul Drake <paled_at_home.com> wrote:

>Fuzzy wrote:
>>
>> Hi all.
>>
>> I'm looking for anecdotal information about then people decide their
>> Oracle db server needs a second (or more) NIC. 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.
>>
>> Fuzzy
>
>Fuzzy,
>
>one NIC = single point of failure
>
>It could be the NIC, the cat5 cable, the switch port, the NIC driver.
>In any event, the $50 NIC could cause your $25K server from providing
>services.
>
>Think of this in terms of your online redo logs:
>
>Stripe and mirror.
>Yes, a pair of dual ports is exactly like a RAID 0+1 volume
>Use 2 dual port NICs, each teamed as a single logical NIC. (striped,
>then mirrored).
>This will give you 200 Mbps on each of 2 IPs.
>Make sure that you use both IPs in the tnsnames.ora on the app servers,
>configured to load balance.
>If an IP address conflict occurs, you still have one IP up.
>If either card loses a port, both are still functioning.
>
>A friend that has a large number of servers at an ISP puts 5 homes on
>all of his boxes:
>
>2 ports to the WAN
>2 ports to the LAN
>1 port for logging on a secure DMZ
>
>Btw, the Compaq NIC drivers suck - stick with Intel EtherExpress Pro
>100+ for your NICs.
>
>More Hardware!
>
>Paul

Thanks Paul,

I hadn't even considered the fault tolerance aspects - just performance ... that's got me thinking now.

Thanks again.

Ciao
Fuzzy
:-)   Received on Mon Apr 09 2001 - 19:11:51 CDT