two gigabit ethernet ports in new G5s

[rock6079]

what are some practical uses for the two gigabit ethernet ports in the new dual core G5s ? since i have em, I feel like I should take advantage of em

some of the things ive heard include connecting to a server like an xraid or connecting to two different lans... since i dont have a server in my house or two different lans, what else can i do ?

does plugging two ethernet cords from my router ad any benefit ?

thanks for your comments

 

[alex_ant]

Hook one up to the other one and transfer data to yourself at lightning speeds

 

[dubbz]

Hook one up to the other one and transfer data to yourself at lightning speeds

Awesome

Back before I bought a router, I used my PC as a router with the help of two different 2 NICs. Not optimal, but all I could afford then.

 

[rock6079]

Hook one up to the other one and transfer data to yourself at lightning speeds

hahaha . very uh... practical lol

its the possibilities like this that make me happy i have two ethernet ports, go apple !

 

[jestershinra]

That's a very common server config. You can run two NICs and use them as different interfaces. You could do things like give each its own IP, and then the possibilities are endless. It's very practical for servers, but not really for desktop users.

 

[csubear]

with 10.4 OS X now support link aggregation, which means you can use both interfaces with one ip address, and have 2 GBIT of bandwidth

 

[belvdr]

with 10.4 OS X now support link aggregation, which means you can use both interfaces with one ip address, and have 2 GBIT of bandwidth

If you are connecting to a switch that supports it.

 

[~Shard~]

Dual Gigabit Ethernet is ideal for users in an Xsan environment that requires independent networks for metadata and general networking.

 

[csubear]

If you are connecting to a switch that supports it.

I wasn't sure if it needed support at the switch. I guess it would.

 

[rock6079]

I wasn't sure if it needed support at the switch. I guess it would.

damn.. that would have been awesome.. yah right now they are both plugged in and have different ip addresses on the same lan.. i dont what benefit that is to me.. but oh well lol

 

[matticus008]

damn.. that would have been awesome.. yah right now they are both plugged in and have different ip addresses on the same lan.. i dont what benefit that is to me.. but oh well lol

It means that if you use both interfaces, you can get double the bandwidth, up to what's being supplied to the LAN. Unfortunately, OS X as a whole just uses one connection for the internet, so right now you're just wasting an IP. If you are into tweaking things and familiar with the ins and outs of networking, you can get some applications to use one network connection while using the other for browsing.

So say you're hosting a website from your computer. You can have the web server complete all transactions on one port/IP and have a separate one for your own browsing and downloading. That means when you're updating software, it won't strangle your website.

It's basically useless for the average home user.