This question is completely unrelated to unRAID, though if it works I suppose it could be applied to any LAN, including one with an unRAID server.

 

This question was posed to me yesterday and I realized I didn't know the answer.  I figure some of you will.

 

Can an eSATA cable be used to connect two computers directly, crossover cable style (or maybe similar to a Mac's Firewire Target Disk mode)?  If so, would this show up as a LAN (under 'Network')?

 

Here's the situation: I want to be able to transfer large amounts of files from a desktop to a laptop, both of which have eSATA ports.  This can be done over the network of course, but the router is not GigE, so its pretty slow.  If I could employ eSATA, the transfer should theoretically be faster than even GigE (3x faster, to be specific).

Sorry, but no. 

 

If the two computers are adjacent, you can use a LAN cable directly between the two, with NO router.   If both have Gigabit network interfaces, they will talk to each other just fine.

You will need to hard-code the tcp-ip addresses, as there will not be a DHCP server to hand them out, but assigning a static IP address is not too difficult, even if only for the transfer.

 

Of course, you might find a cheap Gigabit switch on sale this weekend.. Connect it from your laptop to your server, and then connect one of its ports to your existing router.  Traffic into/from the internet will be limited by the speed of the router, but traffic between the laptop and server will be much faster.

 

Joe L.

Thanks for the reply.  I already have a Gigabit LAN router, this is really for some friends who don't have one and don't want to spend any more money.  Guess they will have to deal with slow transfers.  I suppose I could lend them my cross-over cable....

Thanks for the reply.  I already have a Gigabit LAN router, this is really for some friends who don't have one and don't want to spend any more money.  Guess they will have to deal with slow transfers.  I suppose I could lend them my cross-over cable....

Don't need a cross-over cable with Gigabit lan connections.  They figure it out for themselves.  All they need is a direct cable between the two Giga-capable network connectors on the PCs.

 

Joe L.

Oh, wow, good to know.  I take it they need to be Cat5e or better cables, since with Cat5 cables the transfer would still be limited to 100mbps?

My understanding is CAT5 v.s. CAT6 is a question of quality.  Your sure to get solid 100mbps performance from CAT5.  Your sure to get solid 1000mbps performance from CAT6.  Manufacturers won't guarantee 1000mbps performance with CAT5 cables, but I've never had a problem. --- Again, this is only my understanding.