I have a Dell PowerEdge 1850 server and a gigabit switch that supports nic teaming (and was configured to do so). The server has a total of four Intel PRO/1000 MT ports, which also support teaming.

But.. for some reason Intel does not actually have a version of the drivers/ProSet that will work for these cards on 2008 R2. You have to use the built-in drivers that come with 2008 R2, which do not support the additional features. According to their website, they have no plans to change this.

Strangely enough, I experimented with various drivers in an attempt to force it to work. At one point, the teaming was working, but there were side effects (such as the DNS server refusing to start).

So now I am back to running just one of the cards, (very) frustrated about the whole situation.

I have looked all over to see if there is some way around this, but have not had any success.

I know I can probably just get a new network adapter for it, but with the good deal I got, that would cost more than the server! :)

While staying with 2008 R2, does anyone know of any possible alternatives?

Thanks!