# Need Help With Networking Configuration for Master/Slave Setup!



## GrapeBotherhood (Nov 1, 2018)

Hey guys,

I have a Mac Pro tower that I want to use as a master, and want to connect to a PC tower to be used as the slave, to use as master/slave for Vienna Ensemble Pro, and stream VST libraries from slave to master.
I have poor networking experience/knowledge, can anybody help me?

So, I have:

The Mac Pro 5,1 (2012) has 2 built in Gigabit Ethernet Ports.
The PC has a built in Gigabit Ethernet port, and a 10G Ethernet Port.
Want to connect these units in master/slave with Vienna Ensemble Pro, for optimal speed and performance.
My questions are:

1- Do I need a Gigabit Switch? If yes, which one is a good one? Which should be speed/model requirements? How do I use/connect it?
2- Can I just connect Mac to the home router, and then connect directly Mac to PC with a Cat Cable? Would this guarantee both computers their own static IP and optimal transfer speed?
3- If both solutions are usable (direct with ethernet cable, or using switch) which one is the best to ensure best data transfer speed?
4- Do I need normal or cross-over cables? Cat 6 or Cat 7 ?
5- Why can't I (or can I??) just plug the two computers into the ethernet ports of my home router that came with my internet provider? Any disavantages?
6 - If I use my router LAN ports to connect both computers, is 100 Mbps ok as LAN speed? That's what the router provides.

(PS: any solution that would allow me to have internet connection on both machines would be preferred, as I'll sometimes use the slave also to surf internet...)

Thanks a lot in advance!


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## Bender-offender (Nov 1, 2018)

Just plug the PC directly into the Mac — no switch or router needed. And then make sure you setup static IP addresses for both computers. Google this for Mac and Windows if you don’t know how.


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## Bender-offender (Nov 1, 2018)

Just saw you’d like internet for both. In this case you will need a gigabit switch. Plug both computers into the switch as well as your internet modem (assuming your modem is only 100 Mbits/s). If your modem doubles as a router and is capable of gigabit routing, then just plug both computers into that. Otherwise 100 Gbit/s probably isn’t fast enough for a VE Pro setup. Either way, you still should setup static IP address on both computers.


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## Bender-offender (Nov 1, 2018)

Ok, I think I’m getting ahead of myself. 

If your internet provider is giving you 100 Mbits/s of internet speed, then that will not affect your VE pro setup. You need to find out if the router you have supports gigabit Ethernet (not internet). If it does, then it should work fine for a VE Pro setup. If it doesn’t, then you will need to get a separate gigabit (or faster) router and plug both computers AND your internet provider into the new router. Make sense?


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## GrapeBotherhood (Nov 1, 2018)

Hey thanks a lot for your messages!

My router seems to provide only 10/100 ethernet ports (100 mbps), so it should not work for 1000 mbps. At least, from what I understood on the website of my router model, which is a "Netgear cbvg834g".

But since both my Mac Pro (master) and PC (slave) have two ethernet ports each, I guess I can use one etherneth on each for internet (directly plugged into router) and then use the spare ethernet port on each to connect pc and mac with a simple ethernet cable? 

Would that direct connection work? Or the fact that they're at the same time connected with other lan ports to router cause any interferences?

Thanks again! 







Bender-offender said:


> Ok, I think I’m getting ahead of myself.
> 
> If your internet provider is giving you 100 Mbits/s of internet speed, then that will not affect your VE pro setup. You need to find out if the router you have supports gigabit Ethernet (not internet). If it does, then it should work fine for a VE Pro setup. If it doesn’t, then you will need to get a separate gigabit (or faster) router and plug both computers AND your internet provider into the new router. Make sense?


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## Bender-offender (Nov 1, 2018)

GrapeBotherhood said:


> Hey thanks a lot for your messages!
> 
> My router seems to provide only 10/100 ethernet ports (100 mbps), so it should not work for 1000 mbps. At least, from what I understood on the website of my router model, which is a "Netgear cbvg834g".
> 
> ...


You should be able to use both Ethernet ports directly into each other. Just remember to assigned one of them on the Mac and PC to static IP addresses because that is the address VE Pro will look for every time you load your project.

I suggest placing the VE Pro setup in the Ethernet 2 ports because the internet port likes to have priority (at least on Mac) and your computer won’t connect to the internet otherwise.


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## GrapeBotherhood (Nov 1, 2018)

Bender-offender said:


> You should be able to use both Ethernet ports directly into each other. Just remember to assigned one of them on the Mac and PC to static IP addresses because that is the address VE Pro will look for every time you load your project.
> 
> I suggest placing the VE Pro setup in the Ethernet 2 ports because the internet port likes to have priority (at least on Mac) and your computer won’t connect to the internet otherwise.




Thanks again! 

Do you think that after setting static IPs, they'll stay in place? I heard on another forum that LAN ports directly connected "should fall back to self-assigned private IPs and work it out for itself".

Also, I read about other people running master/slave through switch, like if there's any specific benefit?
Is it that the switch, then connected to router, assigns the IPs in a static way? Or else ?

Sorry for the confusion


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## Bender-offender (Nov 1, 2018)

The IPs should stay and not change assuming you do it correctly. Like I said, google how to do this for both Mac and windows.

As for the switch, yes, some people have them. I use a switch because I have 5 computers networked together. However, in the past I had a single pc going directly into my Mac Pro just like you are trying to do and it worked great.


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## GrapeBotherhood (Nov 2, 2018)

Bender-offender said:


> The IPs should stay and not change assuming you do it correctly. Like I said, google how to do this for both Mac and windows.
> 
> As for the switch, yes, some people have them. I use a switch because I have 5 computers networked together. However, in the past I had a single pc going directly into my Mac Pro just like you are trying to do and it worked great.



Thanks a lot man, for sticking with me as I continue having doubts on this... .:D 

So....as you say as long as I set up static IPs there should be no problems....
But being each of two computer connected at the same time with a cable to router for internet, and to the other pc with direct connection....would that mean that each computer will have its two LAN ports assigned to two different IPs ? One IP for the lan port going to router, and one IP for the straight connection to the other PC?
I hope so....or would each computer have to share one IP for the two LAN ports? (That would cause problems with Vienna Ensemble Pro I guess?) 

Sorry for the messed up post, I hope it makes sense!


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## Bender-offender (Nov 2, 2018)

Your computers will have two IP addresses. The Internet port IP address will be automatically assigned by your internet router and may change each time you load your computer depending on how many other devices you have using the same internet. 

It’s been awhile since I had my pc directly into my Mac, but I remember it being a little bit more work to setup compared to using a gigabit switch. I remember my Mac automatically created its own IP address when plugged into the pc, then I switch on “Manual” address and just used the same number. I believe I used the same IP address on the pc except one number higher in the far right category. It was something like 169.56.3.45 on the Mac and 169.56.3.46 on the pc. These are just arbitrary numbers so don’t copy them. Again, google is your friend. Look up something like “connect Mac directly to pc without router or switch” or something similar.


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