Trying to setup direct ethernet connection from pc to unraid

[Milon950]

So i've been trying to setup a 2.5gbe connection from my pc to my unraid server in order to get faster transfers from my pc to my new server. I'm using a 1gbe connection on my motherboard for the server to connect to the internet and a 2.5 gbe pcie adapter (tp-link TX201) to connect directly to my main pc while the pc is using wifi for internet access. I haven't yet setup a static ip from the router for my unraid server and I currently use dhcp which isn't a huge problem now but I am going to fix it later and from my understanding should not be related to the problem I am having but I could be wrong since I'm new to this. I have two problems when setting up the connection:

 

1. When configuring the ip addresses on both devices by using static ip:s for eth1 (server 2.5gbe) and the pc:s 2.5 gbe port I loose access to the unraid gui from my local wifi when setting up static ip on the pc ethernet port (eth1 having static ip also) but immedietly gain back access when changing the pc port to dhcp while eth1 still have static ip. Bonding for eth0 and eth1 is off and I've tried using bridging both off and on. One example of ip adresses I've used is:

192.168.11.199 (server) 192.168.11.197 (pc)

 

2. When the ethernet cable is plugged in on both devices I don't get internet access on the unraid server but can access the gui from my computer, I got a network api error telling me it can't connect to mothership, tried using "unraid-api reset" command but it didn't help and also "wget --output-document - https://mothership.unraid.net" which seemed to help another person but i got back that it was trying to resolve it but it failed.

 

I did manage to get back internet access for unraid by unplugging the ethernet cable from the 2.5 gbe port and deleting the network.cfg and network-rules.cfg files. I don't know why I get these problems because from the videos I've watched and from what I've read I should be able to set a static ip for both ports and then using file explorer on windows and add a network drive with the ip adress i've chosen for the 2.5 gbe connection. Have I set something up wrong or do I need to do something more in order to get the connection to work? I have listed two diagnostics files, one with the cable in and not having internet access working and another one after I removed the cable and deleted the files. 

 

Any help will be much appreciated

simonnas-diagnostics-20230726-2138-not-working.zip simonnas-diagnostics-20230726-2153-working.zip

[itimpi]

The Unraid GUI needs to be on eth0.   Maybe this is your problem and you need to set the 2.5G connection to be eth0?  Also, have you made sure the 1G and 2.5G connections are on different subnets?

[Milon950]

Thank you for the response,

 

From my understaning I want the 1G connection to be eth0 since that is the connection for the internet and the server as a whole, the 2.5G connection is only for transferring data from my pc to the server so it should be eth1, correct? I'm kind of a newbie when it comes to internet but since the eth0 ip adress is 169.254.1.80 by setting the ipv4 adress assignment to automatic and the optional metric in ipv4 deafult gateway to 1, which set it to link, by setting the eth1 ip address to 192.168.11.199 with deafult gateway at 0 they should be on different subnets, right? Tried it once again by setting the ip adress on my pc to 192.168.11.197 and the subnet mask to 255.255.255.0, which in my understanding should make them be on the same subnet, which they need to be, correct? When I did this I got the same result, no access to the gui, when setting the pc 2.5G back to dhcp i can access it again.

[itimpi]

9 hours ago, Milon950 said:

169.254.1.80

 

Addresses starting 169.254 are those assigned if set to use DHCP but a DHCP server cannot be contacted.   What address is your router?   If Unraid was able to get an address from the router then it would be on the same subnet and the router address would be the gateway for that link.

[Milon950]

The router address is 192.168.1.1 (gateway for pc), previously before using the new pcie adapter in the server I've gotten adresses starting at 100.82.x.x and everything was working fine. I deleted the network files again and bootet unraid, which now gives me the ip address: 100.82.42.83 with the gateway 100.82.0.1. Double checked why the gateway wasn't the same and I think it's because the server is connected to the powerline via a switch that goes down to the cellar insted of going through the router and then the powerline like my pc. Since I'm young I still live with my dad and I wasn't the one that setup the network here, so I'm not 100% sure how everything is setup but I could probably make small changes if that is required to get this to work if the servers setup now is configured in a way that doesn't work.

[Veah]

This is a confusing architecture.  Is it possible to get a cheap 2.5G switch?  If so, go gateway/router > 2.5G SW > 2.5G server nic.

Also connect 2.5G SW > 2.5G pc nic.

Shut off the PC wifi.

Shut off server 1G nic.

I believe that will get you to where you want to go.

 

 

[Milon950]

I did think of that but the only problem is that 2.5G is quite expensive where I live, if I go with a reputable brand and store I have to spend 160$ (120$ for a cheap one) for 2.5G switch instead of 20$ for a 1G switch. Since its a big difference I'd like to save the money if I can since the idea of a direct connection without a 2.5G switch should work from what I've gathered. But maybe my problem is that the server's ethernet connection isn't connected to our main router. I'm going to buy a 1G switch and connect it to the router so that the server is connected to our main router to see if that would fix the issues I'm having.

[Veah]

If eBay is available to you, check there.  You should be able to do it for $50 for a reputable brand used (I see Trendnet now), or a new something straight from China which has worked out ok for me previously.

 

Anyway, good luck.

[Milon950]

Thank you guys so much for the help, I got it working now. Turns out unraid had changed which port was connected eth0 and I hadn't realized earlier that it had been changed, 'cus I got the mac addresses mixed up, so the 1G port was on eth1 and not eth0 and I simply had to change it back to eth0 like it was before I installed the new adapter.

Edited July 27, 2023 by Milon950