On 9/28/05, Mike Olson <molson4 at operamail.com> wrote: > Could someone please settle an argument between my friend, > and I? Is it possible to increase the transfer rate > between two computers by putting two network interface > cards (NICs) in each computer, and putting two Ethernet > connections on each computer, and connecting the two > computers with two Ethernet cables? I said that it would > not, and may even slow transfer rates because the > processor is switching between two NICs. Also, since each > computer can have only one IP address since each MAC > address is unique, and that computer will process the > packets of information it receives one at a time. He > thinks that the NICs have buffers in them that allow the > packets of information to be stored until the CPU > processes them. So according to him, you can send a chunk > of data faster by splitting it in half, sending the halves > over two cables, and receive the halves with the other > computer and NICs, and put the chunk of data back together > again. He thinks that transfer rates would increase if > you increased the CPU speed, since each CPU could split > the info and put it back together faster, and faster. I > told him that transfer rates are dependent upon the rate > of your NIC and your transfer medium (ex. Ethernet, > optical, wireless) and cannot be affected by simply adding > more NICs and transfer mediums between two computers. I > think he's confusing processing rates with transfer rates. > Whose right? If I remember right, some of the high-end Intel network cards have a "bonding" driver that will allow you to do just this. I've never done it, though.