For small networks, you can also use 40 Gbps point-to-point Thunderbolt IP networking (with no separate network card needed). With four ports per machine, you could have networks of up to four machines. With routing, you could have larger topologies. There is no such thing as a “Thunderbolt switch” yet (like an Ethernet switch) though so the size is limited.
This also goes for PCs, as a cheap but very fast Ethernet alternative.
I’ve been using one of these 25Gb/s ConnectX-4 NICs with my M1 Max MacBook Pro for about a year. It works well, but I can only get about 10Gb/s with a 25G link and much less with a 10G link. I don’t know why.
For small networks, you can also use 40 Gbps point-to-point Thunderbolt IP networking (with no separate network card needed). With four ports per machine, you could have networks of up to four machines. With routing, you could have larger topologies. There is no such thing as a “Thunderbolt switch” yet (like an Ethernet switch) though so the size is limited.
This also goes for PCs, as a cheap but very fast Ethernet alternative.
I’ve been using one of these 25Gb/s ConnectX-4 NICs with my M1 Max MacBook Pro for about a year. It works well, but I can only get about 10Gb/s with a 25G link and much less with a 10G link. I don’t know why.