Gigabit networking question.
I have a desktop server running Windows and I have a MacBook Pro. I often access files from the server. They are both connected to a wireless router. I want to get the fastest possible access to the files on the desktop and I believe gigabit ethernet is what I need.
The question is how to do this? I'm pretty sure the Asus A7N8X motherboard does not have gigabit ethernet. Also, the router doesn't have it either. I have the option of adding a card to the desktop. Can I just buy a gigabit card for the desktop and connect the MBP to that? Then I can just connect to the router wirelessly for internet access.
Any help on the best route would be appreciated.
The question is how to do this? I'm pretty sure the Asus A7N8X motherboard does not have gigabit ethernet. Also, the router doesn't have it either. I have the option of adding a card to the desktop. Can I just buy a gigabit card for the desktop and connect the MBP to that? Then I can just connect to the router wirelessly for internet access.
Any help on the best route would be appreciated.
Comments
If all you want is a something suitable for a temporary connection while moving files around quickly, that should work fine. I'm not sure off the top of my head if you'll automatically be able to see a Windows file share show up over a link like that, or if you'll have to check what zero-conf IP address gets assigned to the PC's gig port, and then from the Finder on the Mac do "Connect to Server..." and put in smb://169.254.x.x to connect.
I've set up a wired gig network in my house, plus both 802.11g and 802.11n wireless too.
Can I just buy a gigabit card for the desktop and connect the MBP to that? Then I can just connect to the router wirelessly for internet access.
Yes.
I think that's the best route to take. You could possibly get an eSata expresscard for the MBP and a corresponding PCI card for the PC to get theoretically 3Gbps instead of 1Gbps but I'd say Gigabit ethernet will be fast enough and I doubt that you will get near 3Gbps in practical situations with eSata.
GigE is cheaper and easier to set up and will likely exceed your drive read/write speed anyway. Even really fast HDs are only 80MB/s (640Mbps). The average drives are closer to 30MB/s.
I've done straight transfers Mac to PC over ethernet via SMB. I only had 100MBps ethernet at the time though and it took about 1 minute per gigabyte.
Yes.
I think that's the best route to take. You could possibly get an eSata expresscard for the MBP and a corresponding PCI card for the PC to get theoretically 3Gbps instead of 1Gbps but I'd say Gigabit ethernet will be fast enough and I doubt that you will get near 3Gbps in practical situations with eSata.
GigE is cheaper and easier to set up and will likely exceed your drive read/write speed anyway. Even really fast HDs are only 80MB/s (640Mbps). The average drives are closer to 30MB/s.
I've done straight transfers Mac to PC over ethernet via SMB. I only had 100MBps ethernet at the time though and it took about 1 minute per gigabyte.
Thanks for the responses. I'm wondering if I can keep the desktop connected to the router and connect the MBP to the desktop with a gigabit card and share internet access that way as a more long term solution until gigabit draft-N routers stop sucking so much. Buffalo has a nice one but it's too expensive.