Increase NFS speed through a second network interface

Question

My workplace has an old and rigid network system. I currently have one computer acting as an NFS server and many computers acting as an NFS client. They are all presently connected through my workplace’s network. It's very slow (about 10 Mbps), making large file transfers infeasible. Since all these computers will always be physically close to each other, and most of them have a second network interface on their motherboards, I wanted to set up a second network with only these servers (just for a high-speed connection between them). I can procure USB to Ethernet dongles for the servers that do not have a second LAN port. My question is: how do I set up this network (hardware and software)?

• A good router and passive (unmanaged) ethernet switches should do the trick. However, I wanted to know if this is professional (optimal).

I looked into some networking concepts, and it seems like switches are good enough for my application. However, OSI Level 2 switches won't allocate IP addresses. I'll need something to give IP addresses (DHCP server) for NFS to work. I might have other applications in the future that may need to use this high-speed interconnection.

I'm a novice at networking, but I think you use routers to connect different networks and switches for managing networks. I couldn't find routers with eight LAN ports (I have eight computers). I might add computers in the future. I want to use ethernet for everything (no WiFi).

Answer 1

I can procure USB to Ethernet dongles for the servers that do not have a second LAN port.

This might work but I would strongly recommend using PCIe Ethernet interfaces instead of USB. If all you need is 1 Gbps, they cost about the same but are usually more reliable.

I'll need something to give IP addresses (DHCP server) for NFS to work.

Then set up a DHCP server. It doesn't need to be set up on a router; in this case you don't even need a router, as you only want to set up one subnet anyway.

I couldn't find routers with eight LAN ports (I have eight computers). I might add computers in the future. I want to use ethernet for everything (no WiFi).

Those exist but they are called "L3 switches". They're Ethernet switches which can additionally support IP routing at hardware level (at the same speed as MAC switching). They would have advantages for inter-subnet traffic (e.g. routing between multiple VLANs), but in your case you do not need one – a regular L2-only Ethernet switch will do.

There are also routers with 8-12 ports but those would usually be independent ports rather than switched (each of those ports to be connected either to its own standalone Ethernet switch, or directly to another router/device for point-to-point links).

Answer 2

Turns out most unmanaged switches operate on the address later (they usually don’t have IP routing, but the route through CAM tables), see this, and this. I bought a Gigabit switch like TP-link 16 Ports TL-SG1016D, and connected all my systems to it through CAT6 cables (a little overkill). I then connected a cable from workplace’s network into one port on my switch. Now all my systems can talk to each other at 100 MBps directly over the switch (it’s a giga-bit switch) and talk to other devices over the network at the same 10 MBps as before (very slow but most of my work happens over my computers). I verified this using iftop. This makes my NAS much faster.