HP HyperFabric manual Card Compatibility

Installing HyperFabric

Installing HyperFabric Adapters

Card Compatibility

This section explains card compatibility considerations for doing OLAR.

Online Addition (OLA) Multiple cards can be added at the same time. When adding a card online, the first issue to resolve is whether the new card is compatible with the system. Each OLAR-capable PCI slot provides a set amount of power. The replacement card cannot require more power than there is available.

The card must also operate at the slot’s bus frequency. A PCI card must run at any frequency lower than its maximum capability, but a card that could operate at only 33 MHz would not work on a bus running at 66 MHz. rad provides information about the bus frequency and power available at a slot, as well as other slot-related data.

If an HP 9000 system has one or more slots that support OLAR and OLA will be used to install a HyperFabric adapter in one of those slots. Refer to the Interface Card OL* Support Guide for information on how to install the adapter in the HP 9000 or Integrity server.

After adding a new HyperFabric adapter, SMH tries to locate the HyperFabric software. If SMH cannot locate the HyperFabric software, the new adapter cannot be used until the software is installed (remember that software installation requires a system reboot). If SMH locates the HyperFabric software, it determines whether the new adapter is functional. If it is not functional, an error message is displayed.

If the new adapter is functional, SMH displays a message telling the user to configure the adapter and start HyperFabric. If only one adapter is being added, issue the clic_init -ccommand or use SMH to configure the adapter, and then issue the clic_start command or use SMH to start HyperFabric. If multiple adapters are being added, add all of the adapters first, and then run clic_init -cand clic_start or use SMH. See “Performing the Configuration” on page 69 and “Starting HyperFabric” on page 95 for more information about configuring and starting HyperFabric.

CAUTION	Do not change any configuration information for an existing HyperFabric adapter or
	switch while you are using clic_init -cto configure a new adapter.

When you have completed the adapter installation, go to “Installing the Software” on page 47.

Online Replacement (OLR) When replacing an interface card online, the replacement card must be identical to the card being replaced (or at least be able to operate using the same driver as the replaced card). This is referred to as like-for-likereplacement and should be adhered to, because using a similar but not identical card can cause unpredictable results. For example, a newer version of the target card that is identical to the older card in terms of hardware might contain an updated firmware version that could potentially conflict with the current driver. For example, an A6386A adapter must be replaced with another A6386A adapter. In addition, the old adapter and new adapter must have the same revision levels.

When a replacement card is added to an HP 9000 system, the appropriate driver for that card must be configured in the kernel before beginning the replacement operation. SMH ensures the correct driver is present. (In most cases, the replacement card will be the same type as a card already in the system, and this requirement will be automatically met.) Keep the following things in mind:

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