Networking Mac Pros, direct and through a switch

Question

Networking Mac Pros, direct and through a switch

I've got a previous gen Mac Pro and will be migrating to a 2013. I'll keep the older one going for any FCP7 gigs that come back to life.

So for the migration and the initial working-the-bugs-out period ("Dang it, where's the After effects plugin??" "Aww, forgot a font!" "Where's that stupid purchase code??") I'll need to have them networked; I also need to buy a bunch of enclosures for spinning-disk RAID, SSDs, optical drive, etc. So there will be a period I'll be accessing footage and things from the old system while working on the new one.

So my question: the old Pro is wired to a switch and several macs are networked throughout my space. There's an extra port near my desk so i can network the pro - but it it possible/faster/desirable in any way to have the old mac plugged into the switch, and plug the new one into the spare Ethernet port on the old one, as they'll be sitting side by side (yeah, my desk will be a mess for a while).

Basically wondering if a direct connection between two macs will make file transfers faster, and if would allow the new one to access the internet.

(I know how to add the new one to the network, but always wondered why there are two ports on high-end macs). Thanks for any thoughts.

Mac Pro, iOS 9.3.1

Posted on May 9, 2016 4:39 PM

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Answer 1

May 9, 2016 5:30 PM in response to Michael Carter5

for near-Hard Drive performance, you need a Gigabit Ethernet switch. If you don't have one, you need to get one. That is the only acceptable way to manage local computer-to-computer File transfers.

Your Router does not need gigabit speeds, because your connection to the Internet is not likely to be faster than 100M bits/sec. The 'trick" (if there is one) is that computer-to-computer transfers use the Ethernet cabling, but they do not use the Routing function of your Router, only direct data transfer (the "Switch functions) if wired that way.

There is no simple way to get faster speeds, such as plugging in a cable computer-to computer.

The second Ethernet port is good for connecting Network Storage, such as a NAS.

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Answer 2

May 9, 2016 5:30 PM in response to Grant Bennet-Alder

Thanks Grant - so if I understand this correctly -

Upgrade the switch near my desk to gigabit (that's pretty cheap these days), use cat6 cables for both machines, and access the RAID through my older Mac Pro until I get enclosures taken care of for the new box (er, can)?

Pretty painless, though I imagine I'll be happier when I have tbolt raids direct to the new machine.

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Answer 3

May 9, 2016 7:37 PM in response to Michael Carter5

If you can't quickly put your hands on Gigabit Switches, (they are not exactly a hot consumer item) the Apple online store has at least one of every size you could need.

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Answer 4

May 9, 2016 8:32 PM in response to Grant Bennet-Alder

They seem to be all over Amazon, NewEgg and the like. NetGear is making them for under $30 in their standard 5-port case, which have been solid performers for me - they're all over my house. They seem to have hit the "commodity" level, and I imagine (like 10 vs 100 baseT) the manufacturers are "might as well" by now...

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Answer 5

May 9, 2016 8:43 PM in response to Michael Carter5

Gigabit switches are not on the front rack at BestBuy. But you obviously know their value and where to get them.

As you probably also know, the vital issue for cables for Gigabit Ethernet is "all 8 conductors present" (and properly wired, of course). You cannot run power-over-Ethernet devices (which steal some of the wires for power), or use 4-conductor cables. The Mac demands all 8, or you don't get Gigabit speed.

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Answer 6

kulyk

Level 1

16 points

May 21, 2016 8:09 AM in response to Grant Bennet-Alder

too bad i could NOT use cross over cable on the 2nd ethernet port of each of the 2 mac pros - 201 0edition

the 2 mac pros are about 3 feet aoart

would that not eliminate the need for a swith ?

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Answer 7

May 21, 2016 8:22 AM in response to kulyk

you can plug in the cable. NOTHING will happen.

You then need to examine the IP addresses in use. Choose a new pair of IP addresses that are in one of the "Private network" ranges, but are not being used by the Network already.

RFC1918 name	IP address range	number of addresses	largest CIDR block (subnet mask)	host id size	mask bits	classful description^{[Note 1]}
24-bit block	10.0.0.0 - 10.255.255.255	16,777,216	10.0.0.0/8 (255.0.0.0)	24 bits	8 bits	single class A network
20-bit block	172.16.0.0 - 172.31.255.255	1,048,576	172.16.0.0/12 (255.240.0.0)	20 bits	12 bits	16 contiguous class B networks
16-bit block	192.168.0.0 - 192.168.255.255	65,536	192.168.0.0/16 (255.255.0.0)	16 bits	16 bits	256 contiguous class C networks

from:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Private_network

Manually assign a unique address from the new range to each of the en2 ports on each Mac. also be certain that the subnet Mask is set wide enough to include both addresses, or just use 255.255.255.0. There will be no Gateway address.

Manually assign Gigabit speed, flow control and jumbo frames

If this does not work, you can use network Utility or terminal to "ping" the address of the other port, to see if it responds. If you ping the last address in the subnet, all devices should respond.

This is not easier so far, and it will not produce a measurable speed improvement. But it may keep you busy for a while, if that is your desire.

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