Networking Question

[cygnusaa]

Hi all,

My question is not 100% related to XLobby but since it is related to my overall setup and use of XLobby, i thought i would see if you could help.

i have 3 computers, each with 2 nics (2 with 2 nics and 1, my htpc, has 1 nic and 1 wifi). all wired nic connections are gigabit

i would like to utilize this fact to do the following:

nic 1 of each computer will be attached to my router to simply connect to the internet via cable modem. i have this hard wired already to 2 comps and my htpc connects using the wifi. simple enough. no work needed.

i want to use nic 2 on each computer and connect them to a gigibit switch. this gigabit switch will have a NAS box for storing all of my media and any files i dont store locally. i already have a cat6 in place for connection to my htpc which is the only computer not in my "lab". everything else is within a few feet so wiring is not an issue.

i want to keep these networks independent of one another. im choosing a gigabit switch and gigabit NAS and cat6 to get a reasonable amount of bandwidth in order to stream DVD's stored on the NAS (and other media of course) to my htpc running XLobby (and if necessary the other 2 comps).

so...from a purely networking function, will this work?

i have chosen the following components to accomplish this:

dlink DIR-655 wireless router with gigabit ports
dlink DGS-2205 5 port gigabit switch
dlink DNS-323 NAS gigabit

this will all be newly purchased to replace my existing setup.

all connections will be cat6 except the one wifi connection for net access at htpc. i know there my not be a benefit to cat6 (seems ive read that here or there) but i dont need hundreds of feet of the stuff so i figure why not.

im not asking for product opinions unless the ones chosen simply wont work, im pretty happy with dlink products.

am i correct in assuming that my choice of a switch as opposed to a router for this other network is correct?

the switch will NOT be connected to the router at all (at least i dont plan to).

am i missing anything?

if all is well and once i get this running, my next step would be to figure out where to put XLobby either locally on my htpc or what..

any help would be appreciated.

[asc99c]

Firstly, this should work just fine. Secondly, I would probably say this simply isn't necessary.

The choice of a switch is fine, it's the only function it needs for what you mentioned. Simply choose a different IP range for the gigabit network and set routing accordingly. For home networks it would usually be 192.168.0.x for the first network and 192.168.1.x for the second.

But why do you want two networks? My setup just has one wireless ADSL router with 100Mb ethernet ports. My server and media centre are connected through ethernet, and my laptop and desktop use the wireless links. 100 Mb is easily enough so I've never bothered going to gigabit stuff (full HD stuff is around 20Mb/sec for top quality high bitrate content). If you're starting new gigabit is a good choice though. Even the wireless is just fast enough to watch a DVD over.

It would be much simpler to just plug the NAS into one of the wireless router's gigabit ports and run them all on one network. Am I missing something here? Two networks would just add to complexity with little benefit.

As for where XLobby should go, I can't think of any good reason not to install on the HTPC. You can install onto your desktop also, so then you can make changes there and when you're happy, just copy the whole XLobby directory back to the HTPC.

[cygnusaa]

thanks for responding

yes it seems to be overkill

my intent was to isolate bandwidth on the network between media use and internet use.

i also wanted to keep my nas completely disconnected from the network that had an internet connection to keep it secure

im self taught so my networking skills are low level enthusiast at best

i do understand that 100mbps would be sufficient but i thought the extra capacity would benefit once i start adding clients (like in the bedroom and kitchen) at a later date with the possibility of all machines accessing media on the nas at the same time.

i just figured, in general, to give myself the highest capacity that i could from scratch would be the best route. all of the equipment is pretty affordable and i have physical access to everything pretty easily.

so you view dvd's from your hard drive over the network you have? do you ever notice any stuttering or anything? if you are multitasking (ie posting on xlobby lol) is there still enough headroom?

[Marbles_00]

I agree with asc99c, gigabit LAN for DVD is way overkill. Now if your planning on view HD content, then it may be worth your while. Also I don't think you really have to spend the money on CAT6 cable when CAT5e is capable of streaming HD content. And it is much cheaper.

Here's a good post over on AVSForums that discuss CAT5e/CAT6. Worth a read.

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthre ... ight=cat5e

Hope this was helpful.

[tswhite70]

I agree with Marbles & asc99c, I think you are over engineering your setup for little benefit and a lot more hassle. Your DLink router is going to be your protection point from internet attacks, configure it correctly, keep it's firmware up to date and you should be good to go. Then just plug your gigabit switch into the router and all your clients into the gigabit switch and you're done. No worrying about static routing tables, multinic configs, etc.

That's how I'm configured and I haven't run into any issues. I've got a Dlink cable router and a SMC gb switch for my config (it was on sale and about the only switch that supported jumbo frames at the time - SMCGS5).

BTW your gb switch is on sale right now at Newegg for $25.99 after rebate w/ free shipping.

Good luck,
tsw

[cygnusaa]

thanks guys.

good advice overall. i just may simplify things as suggested. and yes i saw that price on newegg...i love them lol

about jumbo frames....i saw a few products that support them, and i have only a rudimentary understanding of what it means....when i saw the term i searched around abit and saw some debate as to whether it was necessary...what is the buzz? i remember someone saying that jumbo frames may help large files but small files get screwy (or something to that effect)...i came away from reading it all with the thought that im not actually transferring a 6gb dvd movie im just accessing it so jumbo may not be necessary...

also, one of you mentioned high def dvd (HD/BluRay), since im starting from scratch (music collection big and growing but i never used to buy DVD's)...if i start my DVD collection with a focus on high def DVD, would my initial setup idea be more necessary or will a setup along your suggestions suffice still? most likely i will wait for format war to die down...im pulling for HD DVD rather than Blu Ray but who knows.

[Marbles_00]

I was just saying that unless your planning on running HD content, don't spend the money on CAT6 cable when CAT5e is cheaper and can stream HD content just fine. By the time we need something like CAT6, it will be superceded by the next technology (I've heard it's CAT6A) that will be able to stream 10Gb/s. Other hardware wise, it is not required. As tswhite indicates, us your router for the purpose of protecting your network and be done with it.

[cygnusaa]

gotcha

[P3rv3rt B3ar]

Could these guys be more desperate to get their hands on your private homevideo collection... yeah sure just leave one simple router to be watchdog on guard

P.S. if u happen to act together with Jelena Dokic on any material could u kindly leave even that router open so B3ar can access too

[cygnusaa]

LOL