I'm trying to understand what's needed to make Windows 7 combine two Ethernet ports into one virtual 2 gigabit port. I know I need 802.3ad compatible switch, my NAS also supports 802.3ad, but it's not sure what's needed on the desktop side.
I know I can buy an expensive 2-port server NIC, and Intel drivers have "teaming" support in them. However, my motherboard already has an integrated NIC. If I put a second, cheap regular network adapter, is there a way to enable 802.3ad over them in Windows?
12 Answers
For NIC teaming or link aggregation support, you'll need to contact your network adaptor vendor or OEM (e.g. Dell offers a teaming driver). They will need to provide you a driver that enables NIC teaming, since Windows does not offer this functionality in the core OS.
Source:
Link aggregation will not provide any benefits using one computer connected to one NAS.
Link aggregation could not split a TCP/IP session on two links. Since one file transfer is one TCP session, it will use only one link.
Link aggregation is good for servers delivering files to several client simultaneously.
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