Author Topic: Setting up network via switch  (Read 2552 times)

2021-06-01, 14:02:49

jamesdowling

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Hi,

I'm looking for a bit of help regarding setting up a network to use backburner/CoronaDR. I currently have a Nas (qnap TS-x53D) A new workstation I purchased and my old workstation- which I want as a render node. I currently have the 2 workstations connected via Ethernet cable to the nas with the drive mapped and manually setting off jobs on both which is not ideal. So now I need to get the 2 workstations to see each other to network render but I can't work out how.

I bought a 2.5gbps Ethernet switch (https://www.qnap.com/en/product/qsw-1105-5t) and thought it would be a simple case of plugging the NAS and 2 workstations in and it should work....but nothing is communicating. So I have been doing some more research and everything I read is saying I need a router connected to the Internet to allow my WS+NAS to communicate via a switch? The problem is in my studio space I only have wifi and connect to the internet that way, I also don't want my NAS connected to the Internet for security reasons especially after the recent QNAP malware situation. Is it not possible to connect my 3 devices locally without the internet? I have built computers in the past but this networking has completely thrown me and I have ended up confused down a rabbit hole of info...

Thanks

2021-06-01, 17:11:03
Reply #1

danio1011

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I might be wrong but I think you just need the router to manage and assign IP addresses through DHCP.  It doesn't need the internet.  If you were to manually assign IP addresses to everything you might get away without a router.  But it doesn't matter if the router is connected to the internet, it just needs to be plugged into your switch.  So everything can still be on the switch, but the router needs to be on there unless you are going to do IP addresses manually (or if your switch is fancy and can do DHCP for you).

Hope that helps, that's my setup and it works like a charm.  I did have similar issues to you prior to connecting my router.

2021-06-01, 18:25:49
Reply #2

jamesdowling

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I might be wrong but I think you just need the router to manage and assign IP addresses through DHCP.  It doesn't need the internet.  If you were to manually assign IP addresses to everything you might get away without a router.  But it doesn't matter if the router is connected to the internet, it just needs to be plugged into your switch.  So everything can still be on the switch, but the router needs to be on there unless you are going to do IP addresses manually (or if your switch is fancy and can do DHCP for you).

Hope that helps, that's my setup and it works like a charm.  I did have similar issues to you prior to connecting my router.

Amazing thanks for the help! I will buy a router and see if that fixes it. My NAS and 2 WS are all using 2.5gbps Ethernet so would I need a router that has 2.5gbps as well? I'm just wondering if I went for a standard 1gbps router to save money would that affect the transfer speeds between workstations and the Nas?

2021-06-01, 21:14:22
Reply #3

danio1011

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No the router only supplies the DHCP function and (potentially) connection to the internet, wifi, etc.  As long as you don't use the router as a switch (don't run the cables 'through' it) you'll be fine with a 1gbe router.  That's what I use on my 10gbe network here...basic tp-link router but a 10gbe switch.  The router should plug into the switch and not have anything else plugged into it.

You just need to make sure your switch is up to snuff, and same with cabling.  But 2.5gb should be ok with Cat 5 (I think.)  And ditch any crossover cables you might be using.

Someone more knowledgeable can jump in like Juraj but that's my opinion.

2021-06-04, 14:49:52
Reply #4

jamesdowling

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Ok great, I will give it another go when I have some spare time. I believe cat 5e cables are fine for 2.5gbps so all good there.

Thanks for your help, very much appreciated!