Firstly, thank you everyone for your help lately -- making my experience better and better!

 

I am stuck on trying to figure out why I cannot get gigabit speed from my server.  Everything is up to par -- new CAT6 cables, Buffalo Airstation Gigabit router/bridge, etc; yet my ethtool and Info check won't read above "Network: eth0: 100Mb/s - Full Duplex."

 

There are two LAN ports on my board, one 100Mb/s onboard and a PCIe 1000Mb/s, to which the server is connected to the router.  Is it possible the config is 'seeing' 100Mb/s on the onboard (which I've disabled in the BIOS) somehow?  Or am I missing something else I could tweak?

 

Thanks!

Try replacing the cables -- a defective cable with one pair that doesn't have full continuity will cause the speed to drop to 100Mb.

 

... assuming you're CERTAIN that all involved network components are Gb, that's likely the problem [Although a bad switch port can do the same thing]

 

I'm stumped.  Tried different ports, added all new cables, new Gigabit PCIe card, verified everything I have found to verify.  Is it impossible that this is a software config issue?  Are these problems 100% hardware?

Are you sure you disabled the right adapter in the BIOS?

 

If so, post the detailed specifics on your network topology.

 

Just had an interesting thing happen twice -- my server fell offline; when I checked ethtool, the results are showing 1000Mb/s!  So it appears my server box is ship-shape but...what?  Is there something downstream that can't handle it in this case?

It sounds like that's likely the case.  Think very carefully about everything in your network topology ... and remember that ANY cable that's got a discontinuous pair with cause a reversion to 100Mb.    [same is true of a bad switch or router port]

 

These can take a while to isolate ... but I've seen numerous cases where the culprit was a cable or port, so be sure you've checked EVERYTHING.

 

Actually... The OP is only saying that he cannot see the ports go gigabit on his unraid server.. Only thing you need to check is if the device on the other end of your network cable going into your unraid system is 1gb ... If that device is 1gb capable and your ethernetport is, then unraid should show you 1gb.. If it does not then you only need to troubleshoot that part of the connection..

 

When you have that working but it looks like you cannot get enought data over that connection (like the highway is there but the cars wont move), then check other parts of your network..

 

The speed your ethernetcard decides to fix to is only limited to its own specs and the specs of the directly attached device (most probably a switch or your router)

The speed your ethernetcard decides to fix to is only limited to its own specs and the specs of the directly attached device (most probably a switch or your router)

 

Not quite ... a bad cable between them will cause the speed to degrade to 100Mb.  I've seen this far more often than a bad switch port, although I've seen those too.

 

That is what I mean... Check the connection from the unraid ethernetport to the first device...

 

Gigabit uses 8 wires, 100mb uses only four of them. So one faulty wire will indeed make sure 100mb is max.

Tried something different -- connected my unRaid box to an older Netgear Gigabit Switch that has the handy ability to see via the port lights if I'm connected at 10/100 or 1000.  Lo! and Behold, My box is connecting -- at launch -- at only 100Mbps, despite all new cords and an brand new PCIe Gigabit LAN card. 

 

curiously, when the box crashes off the network, I can run the ethtool and get a reading of 1000Mbps from the box -- is it possible that unRaid "senses" gigabit speeds after being up for a while and then tries to run at that rate and that is causing it to crash off the network?  Has anyone heard of this behavior before? 

This definitely sounds like a bad port or a bad cable somewhere along the way.  Try this:

 

(a)  Take the cable that you're using between the UnRAID box and the switch and use it to connect another PC to the same switch and confirm that you get Gb with that connection.  That will eliminate both the switch port and the cable as issues.

 

(b)  Be sure the cable is seated well in your new card and confirm you're still just getting 100Mb.  If that's the case, you likely have a defective card (probably a bad connector) ... OR you're using a driver that doesn't properly support that card.  What's the make/model of the new NIC ??

 

 

Tried something different -- connected my unRaid box to an older Netgear Gigabit Switch that has the handy ability to see via the port lights if I'm connected at 10/100 or 1000.  Lo! and Behold, My box is connecting -- at launch -- at only 100Mbps, despite all new cords and an brand new PCIe Gigabit LAN card. 

 

curiously, when the box crashes off the network, I can run the ethtool and get a reading of 1000Mbps from the box -- is it possible that unRaid "senses" gigabit speeds after being up for a while and then tries to run at that rate and that is causing it to crash off the network?  Has anyone heard of this behavior before?

 

if the cable is new.... then it must be that "brandnew nic"... get its details to tomm or jonp.. they might be able to make a driver change..