3Com 155 PCI manual Driver Installation Summary for Experienced Users, Before You Begin

Driver Installation Summary for Experienced Users 3-5

■In a two-NIC scenario, when NIC 1 is active and NIC 2 is standby, and if the link on the NIC 1 port fails, NIC 2 assumes the configuration profile of NIC 1 and becomes the active NIC.

NIC 1 now becomes a standby NIC for NIC 2.

■When a standby NIC assigned to multiple active NICs becomes active, it can no longer be a standby NIC for its other designated active NICs.

■When an active NIC with multiple standby NICs fails, the first eligible standby NIC (in driver load order) assumes the configuration profile of the active NIC. If this NIC in turn fails, the next designated standby NIC (in driver load order) takes over, and so on.

■A NIC cannot be configured as a standby NIC for another standby NIC.

■A resilient server link is established only if the active NIC is operational after Windows NT is booted.

The standby NIC cannot assume the configuration profile of an active NIC that has never been operational.

Driver Installation Summary for Experienced Users

Experienced Windows NT users knowledgeable in ATM configuration can use the following summary to install the 3C975 ATMLink network driver for Windows NT. Other users should proceed to the section “Installing the Network Driver” later in this chapter.

Before You Begin

■Verify that all system and memory requirements are met.

■When multiple ATMLink NICs are installed, run the ATMLink diagnostic utility.

Write down the MAC address, the bus number, and the slot number of each installed ATMLink NIC. See Chapter 6 for information on the ATMLink diagnostic utility.