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NetworkManager Now Supports Link-Local Thunderbolt Networking

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  • NetworkManager Now Supports Link-Local Thunderbolt Networking

    Phoronix: NetworkManager Now Supports Link-Local Thunderbolt Networking

    With the Linux 4.15 kernel there was the introduction of the Thunderbolt networking driver but support was still needed in user-space for making this peer-to-peer Thunderbolt networking support a reality...

    Phoronix, Linux Hardware Reviews, Linux hardware benchmarks, Linux server benchmarks, Linux benchmarking, Desktop Linux, Linux performance, Open Source graphics, Linux How To, Ubuntu benchmarks, Ubuntu hardware, Phoronix Test Suite

  • #2
    Very interesting!

    It would be intereting to see some performance testing Micheal. Also clarificaton on the term link-local.

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    • #3
      Originally posted by wizard69 View Post
      Very interesting!

      It would be intereting to see some performance testing Micheal. Also clarificaton on the term link-local.
      Right. Does that mean 40GB/S links?

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      • #4
        Where is advantage, except backup if you can use Ethernet port, or usb to Ethernet or wifi? Its this actually faster, or some slow network speed is emulated?
        How long cable could be used? Lan could do 100 meters, USB could do how much 5,10 meters by to specs? Is thunderbolt better?
        Last edited by ruthan; 24 May 2018, 06:09 PM.

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        • #5
          Originally posted by M@yeulC View Post

          Right. Does that mean 40GB/S links?
          No, link local doesn't mean that. It's about link-local addressing. The packets are not forwarded to other computers, i.e. the communication is just between the two computers. I believe this is just a default and if you specify network wide addresses then Linux can surely forward the packets to other networks as well.

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          • #6
            Originally posted by M@yeulC View Post
            Right. Does that mean 40GB/S links?
            On Windows Thunderbolt 3 networking is visible as 20Gbit/s (as seen here on a MSI GS43VR Phantom Pro). It might depend on the cable used, passive vs. active, length and so on.

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            • #7
              Originally posted by ruthan View Post
              Where is advantage, except backup if you can use Ethernet port, or usb to Ethernet or wifi? Its this actually faster, or some slow network speed is emulated?
              How long cable could be used? Lan could do 100 meters, USB could do how much 5,10 meters by to specs? Is thunderbolt better?
              The biggest advantage is speed, which is over 10Gbit/s (see my post above for a 20Gbit/s example) theoretically up to 40Gbit/s.

              Also ease of use since you only need a TB3 USB-C cable to connect two computers. While this can be achieved with Ethernet cables it is slower since 10Gbit in consumer gear is very rare (though more common nowadays thanks to Aquantia's chips).

              While networking over raw USB can be made to work it's not popular. There also were old Windows USB PC transfer cables, but they required special software to work. You can always use a USB to Ethernet dongle

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              • #8
                It'd be interesting to see how this works with Syncthing, primarily whether it can keep up.

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                • #9
                  It's just disappointing that on the vast majority of laptops this will be limited to 20Gb/s due to the way the controller is handled on the chipsets. You wind up with the performance of a 4x PCIe 2.0 link rather than the full speed of a 4x 3.0 link.

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                  • #10
                    I don't use NetworkManager. Is there a way to do this through ip link? Will the thunderbolt interfaces even be exposed under ip link?

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