Load balancing across multiple Fast Ethernet or Gigabit Ethernet server adapters provides a simple and scalable solution. Since these load-balancing technologies automatically support redundant network links, they also increase server availability as well as performance. The sidebar describes each of these advanced technologies that provide both scalability and high availability for servers. This reduced the traffic volume on each network link and eliminated the bottleneck. Increase Server Bandwidth by Segmenting the Network Segmentation, however, poses a new set of problems, including additional overhead and the need to reassign IP addresses and remap the network.
Segmentation generally requires additional hardware such as switches or routers.
Balancing traffic on the two segments also can be difficult, since it often requires repeated reconfiguration. Finally, since the two adapters operate in separate network segments, they do not provide a failover connection if a link fails. Each additional adapter adds another 100 Mbps link to the network. Since the traffic distribution among the adapters is automatic, there is no need to segment or reconfigure the network. All adapters share the existing IP address and the traffic is always balanced between them.