# Network bridge vs. NIC teaming ?



## hammerfast

what's the difference between NIC teaming and windows' network bridge ? which one is better for improving performance ? explain please


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## HatesFury

Quote:


Originally Posted by *hammerfast* 
what's the difference between NIC teaming and windows' network bridge ? which one is better for improving performance ? explain please

Bridged mode is a simplified version of teaming. In a nutshell all bridging does is allow the computer to see both network connections as 1, and use the bandwidth of both at the same time. It's also the only "teaming" type option available on non-server OS's.

Teaming is more geared towards throtteling and stability. Normally teaming is setup so that 1 line is in, and 1 line is out. This prevents the server from being over-run with too much incoming traffic such that the outgoing suffers, and vice-versa.


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## hammerfast

Quote:


Originally Posted by *HatesFury* 
Bridged mode is a simplified version of teaming. In a nutshell all bridging does is allow the computer to see both network connections as 1, and use the bandwidth of both at the same time. It's also the only "teaming" type option available on non-server OS's.

Teaming is more geared towards throtteling and stability. Normally teaming is setup so that 1 line is in, and 1 line is out. This prevents the server from being over-run with too much incoming traffic such that the outgoing suffers, and vice-versa.

so which one is better for non-server computers ?


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## Bviper

Quote:


Originally Posted by *HatesFury* 
Bridged mode is a simplified version of teaming. In a nutshell all bridging does is allow the computer to see both network connections as 1, and use the bandwidth of both at the same time. It's also the only "teaming" type option available on non-server OS's.

That isn't quite right.

Bridging is usually used when you wish to combine two network connections, but not necessarily have them doing the same task (an example is if you want a VM to appear as a real machine on your network). You can bridge the VM's software NIC (if it has one) with a physical card giving it direct access to then LAN (rather than doing NAT)

It does make the computer see them as 1, but they'll only have one connection to the LAN/Internet.

Now on to teaming.

Teaming is quite different than bridging in the fact that the two network cards will be performing the same task. It is used for increasing *LAN* bandwidth, usually on servers. But whether or not teaming is supported depends upon your NIC drivers, and not what OS you are running.

Here's what teaming does not do, it will not increase the speeds of your downloads. It will not reduce your ping in a game. It will not have any benefit whatsoever on anything to do with the Internet. So to answer your question... neither. If you still want more proof you can read an illustration I wrote in anther thread.

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Bviper* 
We really, really need a sticky on this. It comes up every month or so.

Lets illustrate this for a moment. I'm not sure what the average home connection is, but in order to show how unnecessary teaming is lets go ahead and use the fastest I know that's widely available: FiOS 50/20 Mbps.

Ok so you have a 50 Mbps connection into your home, but obviously you don't get to use that entire connection (its just the way things work). So lets say you actually get to use a fifth of that, 10 Mbps (extremely generous), when downloading.

So now your gigabit network card (which for the record is 1,000 Mbps) is downloading a file at 10 Mbps. That's .01% usage. Even for a 100 Mbit card, that's still only 1% usage. If your network card is struggling with that, than I urge you to get a new one.

Now, lets say you did team your network cards. Your modem/router still only has a 10/100 port going out to the Internet. Your pipe that's twice as big as it was on your LAN, gets cut down to fit inside the single port negating any benefit.

I believe the problem is that its commonly believed that bandwidth and latency are the same thing. Teaming will increase bandwith. Seeing as a single standard 10/100 Mbit network card is already overkill for home connections then it is useless. Most people are looking for a reduction in latency when they question about NIC teaming.

Now, if you are trying to stream 28 Blu-Ray discs across your gigabit LAN, then maybe, just maybe teaming might be for you.


Edit: I just realize you're the same guy from the other thread. Seriously, it will not improve gaming performance. The ONLY way teaming would help is if you have a bad network card. Your best bet is to get a better Internet connection.


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