communications resources are available for use by other servers on the ASM interconnect network. These resources are then used as ASM interconnect network resources, enabling Remote Supervisor Adapters, ASM processors, or ASM PCI adapters on the ASM interconnect network to send alerts using a modem or the network, even if they do not have a modem or network connection physically attached.
When alerts are generated, they are forwarded to the Remote Supervisor Adapter, ASM processor, or ASM PCI adapter on the ASM interconnect network that has the communication resources to forward the alert. If no system on the ASM interconnect network meets the requirements, the alert is set for transmission if the connection type is configured or becomes available later.
If multiple modems or network connections exist in the ASM interconnect network, you cannot specify which system will receive an alert or which will use its modem or network connection to forward the alert. If an alert is forwarded to a Remote Supervisor Adapter, ASM processor, or ASM PCI adapter that is unable to deliver the alert (for example, the modem it is configured to use has failed or the network cannot resolve the destination IP address), the processor or adapter attempts to forward the alert to another system on the ASM interconnect network that has the communication resources to forward the alert.
Alerts are typically sent only once (per connection type), but an alert is forwarded to another interconnect device if the resources exist on other interconnect devices in the network. For example, on a three ASM processor network where ASM processor 1 generates a modem alert, but does not have a modem and the other ASM processors have modems, the following might occur:
If ASM processor 1 generates an alert and the modem is unplugged from ASM processor 2 45 seconds prior to ASM processor 1 generating the alert, ASM processor 1 forwards the alert to ASM processor 2, having previously determined that ASM processor 2 has an available modem. When ASM processor 2 receives the forwarded alert, it determines that a modem is attached to ASM processor 3, and forwards the alert. Therefore, depending upon the time frame (45 seconds) within which a resource (modem) fails, the alert might be forwarded multiple times until an interconnect device can send the alert.
Cabling for the ASM interconnect network: Depending upon the servers you have, you might need additional ASM Interconnect modules or Category 5 or Category 3 Ethernet cables. The following table lists some IBM Netfinity and IBM xSeries products, and indicates whether you need to use an ASM Interconnect module to set up the ASM interconnect network.
Server name | ASM Interconnect module needed |
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Netfinity 4500R | yes |
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Netfinity 5000 | yes |
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Netfinity 5500 | yes |
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Netfinity | yes |
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Netfinity | yes |
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Netfinity 5600 | yes |
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Netfinity 6000R | no |
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Netfinity 7100 | no |
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Netfinity 7600 | no |
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