Number of network jacks

[cellophane]

I keep seeing NAS boxes with multiple ethernet jacks onboard and being new to the NAS world the purpose escapes me. What does having 2 jacks do and what are the benefits? I tried to find something about it on the SNB site but couldn't find anything.

thanks

 

[HDClown]

I keep seeing NAS boxes with multiple ethernet jacks onboard and being new to the NAS world the purpose escapes me. What does having 2 jacks do and what are the benefits? I tried to find something about it on the SNB site but couldn't find anything.

thanks

It will depend on the NAS software as to what is allowed. Things like failover only, adaptive load balancing, or 802.3ad link aggregation are all options (plus some others). Some functionality requires compatible switches (803.3ad link aggregation for example)