IBM 343 manual Network Controller, Network Teaming Features

Network Controller

Note

To ensure EMC product regulation compliance for intra-building lighting surges, the system must only be used with shielded LAN cables that are grounded at both ends.

The server board uses two Intel 82550PM Fast Ethernet Controllers and supports two 10Base-T/100Base-TX network subsystems.

On the server board, NIC 1 can be used as both a network interface and server management interface.

NIC Connector and Status LEDs

The 82550 controller drives LEDs on the network interface connector that indicate link/activity on the LAN and 10- or 100-Mbps operation. The green LED indicates network connection when on and TX/RX activity when blinking. The yellow LED indicates 100-Mbps operation when lit.

Network Teaming Features

Note

Using both on-board NICs in a team does not allow the use of NIC 1 for server management access. To support both network teaming features and server management features, a third NIC must be added and teamed to NIC 2.

The network controller provides several options for increasing throughput and fault tolerance when running Linux®:

•Adapter Fault Tolerance (AFT) - provides automatic redundancy for your adapter. If the primary adapter fails, the secondary takes over. AFT works with any hub or switch.

•Adaptive Load Balancing (ALB) - creates a team of 2 - 6 adapters to increase transmission throughput. Also includes AFT. Works with any 10Base-TX or 100Base-TX switch.

•Fast EtherChannel (FEC) or Intel Link Aggregation - creates a team of up to 6 adapters to increase transmission and reception throughput. Also includes AFT. Requires a FEC-enabled switch.

To set up an option, read the instructions in the Linux RH 7.1 readme files.

Adapter Fault Tolerance

Adapter Fault Tolerance (AFT) is a simple, effective, and fail-safe approach to increase the reliability of server connections. AFT gives you the ability to set up link recovery to the server adapter in case of a cable, port, or network interface card failure. By assigning two server adapters as a team, AFT enables you to maintain uninterrupted network performance.

AFT is implemented with two server adapters: a primary adapter and a backup, or secondary, adapter. During normal operation, the backup will have transmit disabled. If the link to the primary adapter fails, the link to the backup adapter automatically takes over.

16 xSeries 343 Hardware Maintenance Manual