2.5G Networking
Why 2.5G and not 10G for my home lab?
It comes down to cost. 2.5G networking with two 5 port managed switches and 4 NICs is $170. It will add some bandwith to my home lab network. It will increase backup and restore performance.
TP-Link Omada ES206X-M2 and Brostrend Ubuntu 2.5G NICs
I purchased two 5 port TP-Link Omada Easy Managed Switches to upgrade my network to 2.5 Gbps. I will be using Brostrend 2.5G Ubuntu NICs. Two will go into my HP Z840 because I have two External interfaces: DMZ and one for my wired network. My workstation and tape server will both get a 2.5G NIC. My Ubuntu 24.04.4 servers all use kernel 6.8.111. They recommend kernel 5.9.x or later for use with the NICs.
ES206X-M2
Fortinet notes
Fortinet and I have been working on getting more IPv6 subnets from AT&T Fiber. According to Fortinet TAC, I need to use VLANs. I will setup VLAN 10 and 192 for the two networks.
Veeam backup
Veeam can saturate 1 Gbps at 250 MB/s. Backup performance from Veeam Backup is 2-3x faster.
Interface a to TP-Link Omada Easy Managed Switch
Interface 4 to TP-Link Omada Easy Managed Switch
Make sure you save then backup, when you are done updating the switches.
Fortinet 61F VLAN Setup
