edited
- Thread starter Zankza
- Start date
Notice: Page may contain affiliate links for which we may earn a small commission through services like Amazon Affiliates or Skimlinks.
Well, you also have to think about performance. Most (if not all) Intell network controllers do something called 'cpu offloading'. Which means that it prevents the CPU from being used for handling all the network traffic. USB is being processed by the processor at default which have a few negative impacts: higher latency and higher cpu load.
Maybe a quadport network controller is available on ebay for cheap. I bought a quad port intel-like (HP NC364t) controller for around 75 euro's last year.
Maybe a quadport network controller is available on ebay for cheap. I bought a quad port intel-like (HP NC364t) controller for around 75 euro's last year.
Well it's a Dutch ebay link, but this united states seller is selling for around 80 USD:
HP Gigabit Ethernet Quad Port Network Adapter Card 436431-001 NC364T HSTNS-BN26 | eBay
When you sum up your usb-setup costs and compare it to the ebay object, you would find out that it is cheaper and will have a better performance too.
HP Gigabit Ethernet Quad Port Network Adapter Card 436431-001 NC364T HSTNS-BN26 | eBay
When you sum up your usb-setup costs and compare it to the ebay object, you would find out that it is cheaper and will have a better performance too.
Or the US ebay link
HP Gigabit Ethernet Quad Port Network Adapter Card 436431 001 NC364T HSTNS BN26 | eBayMuch easier!
silicom 6 port ethernet cards use a PLX chip to bridge 6 intel nic's (3 dual port) for about $90 - they are plug n play and work great in our Sophos soft-router! Don't forget Silicom they use true intel chipsets so there are no special drivers necessary out of the box. Used to be my best secret to score dual 10gbe nic's with SR/XR optics for $120
Shipping out of the USA - that's another issue!
Shipping out of the USA - that's another issue!
I have had a bad experience with a couple of Silicom bypass NICs, that I bought used.Or the US ebay link
Much easier!
They seem to require a special driver which is not available to the general public, and Silicom does not always give access to the driver site (my request appears to have been ignored).
Now I will admit, that I could have made a mistake somewhere, and that this is not necessarily relevant, if you make sure to avoid the bypass NICs.
But in my opinion, buyers should take it into consideration, when shopping Silicom, so they do not end up with lemons like me
Dell Poweredge Server Intel PRO 1000MT Quad 1GBPS Ports PCI E Ethernet NIC YT674 | eBay
The USB idea has been tried before, not worth it.
Duals and quads are not that badly priced either and certainly don't match the claimed pricing.
The USB idea has been tried before, not worth it.
Duals and quads are not that badly priced either and certainly don't match the claimed pricing.
also, not all software supports usb nic adaptors...
VMWare dropped support for realtek and marvel all together!
VMWare dropped support for realtek and marvel all together!
Tempting but also scary...looks like a clone of the hp and dell i350s I see all over.
Fair-to-good price but seller has some info wrong, I believe that is a Pro 1000 VT, quad 82575/6. (MT cards are older and regular pci)
OP, USB is a pretty crappy interface for anything that cares about real world performance.
Sure it supports "OMG 5Gbps!" but bandwidth and simple file transfer bar charts are pretty meaningless without other important metrics like latency, cpu usage and when doing multiple I/Os.
USB kinda sucks at those. There are quite a few crummy chipsets too, generally only the PCH ports are good.
Last edited:
They were never supported but were drivers and there are still drivers they are just not enabled by default.