What are the possible uses of the second ethernet on double ethernet Motherboards

[David75]

I see more and more Motherboards with 2 ethernet ports.
I've been trying to search for the possible uses of that second port, but search terms are too generic and I can't find the answer.

I've been able to bridge that connexion with another, which helped me connecting an ethernet printer. That was for testing purposes, because this is clearly not clever to do that. Why? because you need the pc to be on and in that case running windows to access the printer... which defeats the purpose of having a network printer in the first place....

If anyone knows of the many uses of that second ethernet ports, possibly with links to tutorials or whatever, thanks a lot for helping.

David

[darkshadow]

It's for lan'ing while remaining online or to provide other pc's with internet access.

[Kraco]

It would sound pretty convenient for a linux box used as a file server / firewall. To have it between the wall and any switch.

[David75]

ok I understand those uses, but that means you need that machine powered up under an operating system.

For a lan party, that means that if you reboot your comp, the fellow friends after you in the chain get disconnected... which isn't as convenient as using cheap gigabit switches (except for power cords problems...)

[darkshadow]

Dual gigabit lan is not really intended for people who power down their pc's on a regular basis.
Mine for instance is powered on 24/7.

If you keep powering down, then the 2nd port is just a luxury item.

[David75]

Dual gigabit lan is not really intended for people who power down their pc's on a regular basis.
Mine for instance is powered on 24/7.

If you keep powering down, then the 2nd port is just a luxury item.

That's the way I understood it.

When in a lanparty using comps with dual digabit, you pray no one has a glitch that makes them restart their comp... Easy install vs loop stability.

[complich8]

Yeah .... umm ... nobody uses those that way, because it's retarded.

As far as I can see it, there's three reasons to have dual nics on a system.
(1) to multi-home the system on two different networks (eg: to provide a service to both networks).
(2) to aggregate together and get more bandwidth on the same network (which typically requires a managed switch and driver support).
(3) having a fall-back in case a port goes bad.

If neither of the first two applies to you, yeah, you really don't need it. But as a feature, it's basically free, and hardware does fail from time to time, so if you plan to keep the system around for the medium- to long-term (say, 5 or 6 years) it might come in handy.

[Buffalobiian]

(2) to aggregate together and get more bandwidth on the same network (which typically requires a managed switch and driver support).

So like, use two cables and get a 2Gbit conenction or something?

[David75]

thanks for the info.
I had the idea these uses could be possible, but of no interrest to your average user (even most geeks?) except number 3.

I find it strange motherboard manufacturers spend money on something with that little use.

Dual nic might be the right terms to google for better answers.
Thanks for that too, didn"t think of queries with this wording.

[Xelbair]

thanks to my weird home lan setup i use both of them at once.
it goes like this
internet over lan -> Switch ->my pc
.................................. |.......|
...................................|----------> Router -> Ps3 + 2 notebooks + dad's pc

that way I've got 4gb(day)/8gb(night) internet on my pc(i only get internet via switch - not from the router), access to my home network, and my parents + ps3 got separate 4gb(day)/8gb(night) connection.
and yep - second Ethernet port was really useful on lan-party too.