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I have 3 windows 8.1 PCs, and they each have two one-port Mellanox 10GbE NICs. I'm using 3 SFP+ Twinax cables to connect them all as per below diagram. Only one of those PCs is also connected to internet via 1GbE port on the Mobo (and is the only PC that needs internet).

Network topology: http://i61.tinypic.com/2ymhl00.jpg

I want to be able to access files from all computers from any of the 3 computers using Windows sharing. If any one of the 3 PCs is shut down at any time, I still want to be able to transfer files between the two that are turned on.

What network configuration do I have to perform in order to enable stable file sharing between all of the computers? I read about static routing being the answer, but I have no idea what IP/subnetmask/gateway values I need to use on each machine for proper configuration.

I'm not using a switch/router because no affordable switch/router with 3+ 10GbE ports even exists. I need 10GbE for moving huge raw 4K video files at speeds up to 1GB/s between raid0 arrays. 1GbE speed of 111MB/s is not acceptable.

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  • Setup three networks, with each node participating in two of them. Then use HOSTS file to map names to directly connected IPs.
    – ThatOneDude
    Aug 10, 2015 at 22:58
  • @ssnobody, thanks for your input. How exactly do I set node participation within a network in Win8.1? Sorry if it's a dumb question, but I don't have any network config experience. Thanks
    – ToASTER BLU
    Aug 10, 2015 at 23:40
  • You set node participation in networks by setting their IP address to be part of a particular network. The answer by Gene seems like a workable example.
    – ThatOneDude
    Aug 10, 2015 at 23:58
  • That is not a good design. You'll have to use different IP^s to connect to the target PC, multiple router, etc. The proper way to do it is with one (or two if youw ant failover) 10 GBe switches. You can find pretty decent Cisco things in eBay for 150 bucks, however, it may be too advanced for you to configure them.
    – DGoiko
    Nov 18, 2017 at 14:05

1 Answer 1

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Here is one way to do it:

Example diagram

  • System A would have the IPs 10.11.11.10 & 10.22.22.10.
  • System B would have the IPs 10.22.22.20 & 10.33.33.20.
  • System C would have the IPs 10.33.33.30 & 10.11.11.30.

The netmask for all these interfaces would be set to 255.255.255.0 (/24).

None of those network interfaces would have a gateway defined (Windows can only have one gateway defined). I'm assuming all three PCs will have some kind of general internet access for updates and whatnot.

Additionally, to make life easier:

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  • Thanks Gene, what a great answer (and a beautiful diagram)! :-) This makes things very clear, except I'm not sure what you mean by permanent mounting of network shares? What exactly does that involve?
    – ToASTER BLU
    Aug 10, 2015 at 23:58
  • As indicated in the original post, only System A would have general internet access, no internet connection sharing required as systems B and C are intended to be offline systems (apart from file sharing).
    – ToASTER BLU
    Aug 11, 2015 at 0:00
  • Network drive mapping. It's when you assign a network share a drive letter or directory on your system. So instead of navigating to the network share manually every time (e.g. \\10.11.11.10\media) you can just go to a folder that already exists on your system.
    – Gene
    Aug 11, 2015 at 0:02
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    Ah, I see. Like a "favourite folder" shortcut in the Windows Explorer, right? Thanks so much for your input. :-D
    – ToASTER BLU
    Aug 11, 2015 at 0:06
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    HOSTS file maps names (e.g. "SystemA" or "ToasterServer") to IP addresses. That mapping allows you to do something like ping ToasterServer or access shared files using `\\ToasterServer` and have it actually talk to the right computer. Usually this "name resolution" requires a DNS server, which I don't think is necessary in your scenario, and you can use the HOSTS file to avoid setting up a DNS server.
    – ThatOneDude
    Aug 11, 2015 at 0:37

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