bridge? or VLAN?

[StuTheBearded]

Hi

I have 2 nics in my machine one leads to another machine which i use internet connection sharing, the other nic leads to me server. What I do in windows is bridge the two network controllers which means my server has net access too and I they all sit on the same ip range etc... Now how do I do that in linux? do i need a bridge or a vlan? (been looking at the excellent gentoo-wiki but i'm unsure on which i need).

Secondly how do you know which network card is eth0 and eth1? I know my realtek 8139 is eth0 so I assume my realtek 8168 is eth1, however I can't seem to get the 8168 controller to get an Ip from my internet machine using dhcp in fact i can't get it to do anything. I've used DSD's patch for the 8169 drivers but I'm not sure if its working. Patch is in this topic https://forums.gentoo.org/viewtopic-t-436599-highlight-realtek.html.

Thanks

NB: I did set up a bridge following the tutorial but it didn't work I assume thats due to the 8168 controller but again I don't know how you know if its working right, i know in lsmod it says used by and theres a 0 by the r8169 module so I guess nothing is using it.

[savage]

Okay, I guess you could use a bridge for that setup. Generally in a bridge setup, both ethernet cards will use the same IP address. The way you can tell if it is working is to try to get on the Internet with the other computer From the computer plugged into your second card, you should be able to ping your Internet gateway.

Of course, all of this is providing you have Internet access to the first NIC in your computer. Perhaps it would help the most if you more specifically described your setup. Why would you not just buy (or use) a switch or hub, and plug it into both computers?

In my experience, most of the time, eth0 will be the lowest card in the box, with eth1 second up, etc. This is assuming you are using your PCI slots to hold your ethernet cards, and they are not on-boad cards. On board cards usually come first, but if you build your drivers as modules, you probably can assign them in whatever order you want.

[StuTheBearded]

ok I have my inet gateway and a switch in one room. Then I've cabled from my switch to my room via the loft(attic) and down into my room where I have 2 computers, my main desktop with 2 nics and a server connected to eth1. I do this becuase I don't want to go crawling through the roof space recabling as i'd need to use a crossover cable :S

For some reason my realtek 8139 is eth0 and the onboard gigabit card is eth1 I guess it determins what they should be on where it is on the bus? I dunno there. Until I move house I was putting off with the hub. So I use the software brigde as a work around