Dell PowerEdge w/ Intel AFT / Broadcom BASP

From: Brian A. Seklecki (lavalamp_at_spiritual-machines.org)
Date: 10/05/05

  • Next message: Lowell Gilbert: "Re: Is it possible to mount MSDOS partitions on the 5.4 fixit floppy?" 
    Date: Wed, 5 Oct 2005 14:15:28 -0400 (EDT)
To: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org

    All:

    This may be better for freebsd-cluster@freebsd.org, but that list is kind
    of ghost town, and this question is more a standards-based:

    Does anyone deploy Dell Poweredge in a HA configuration utilizing these
    features?

    http://www.intel.com/network/connectivity/resources/technologies/load_balancing.htm
    http://www1.us.dell.com/content/topics/global.aspx/power/en/ps1q03_bhutani?c=us&cs=555&l=en&s=biz
    http://www.broadcom.com/drivers/faq_drivers.php#55

    Do we know what underlying standards and protocols compose these
    "technologies"? 802.3ad, Cisco FEC?

    Intel AFT claims to provide redundancy over a "team" of NICs. ALB claims
    link aggregation; but they don't specify if they're doing it in hardware
    or sofware (see Below)

    Broadcom BASP claims the same, given different terminology and vendor.

    I'm looking for a "fault tolerant" configuration for a HA cluster. "Load
    balancing" and/or "link aggregation" is not required. I need to be able
    to "team" two NICs into one Virtual NIC. Each NIC connects to two
    redundant managed switches, on which the connecting switch ports exist in
    the same VLAN (which is then ISL/802.1q trunked between them). Essentially
    the same ethernet segment.

    I see ng_one2many(4), but the man page doesn't really state what standard
    that uses. It seems to be all in-kernel magic (LACP and 802.3.ad aren't
    mentioned in the man page); will this meet the above requirements?

    There were some ng_one2many(4) patches a while back to add more
    intellegence, (FEC/802.3ad heartbeat like control protocol)

    http://marc.theaimsgroup.com/?t=107695977400002&r=1&w=2
    ...but no mention of them ever being commited.

    I see ng_fec(4) also, but I don't think that Cisco Ethernet Channel can
    occur between two switches and one server (correct me if I'm wrong).

    I question the Hardware v.s. Software issue on the Intel NICs becase the
    Dell PowerEdges Severs that happen to have Intel NIC Chipsets using em(4)
    (many have Broadcom), seem to automatically try to "team" NICs when
    they're connected to unmanaged PowerConnect switches, breaking ng_one2many
    logic. They constantly alternate MAC addresses between the primary
    ethernet, the secondary ethernet, and a 3rd 1-byte-off Virtual MAC.

    This automatic attempt to team seems like a hardware feature. If it was a
    software feature, in theory it wouldn't try to team w/o being instructed
    to?

    On the other hand, *managed* Dell PowerConnect switches feature something
    called "LAG", which the docs describe as 802.3ad / LACP.

    I haven't tried ng_one2many on non-Dell or Dell Managed switches to see if
    the MAC address "bouncing" problem persists, but I'll try that today.

    So the big question:

      *) Is the Windows/Linux-only software for configuring "teams" of NICs,
         described in the URLs below, designed to configure a hardware level
         feature that might have more intellegent link failure detection than
         ng_many2one? (I.e., other than just lost carrier, say, STP storm
         detection or excessive packet error thresholds). Or is it software?

      *) If it is a hardware feature, could our em(4) driver be adapted or
         could it possibly be configured using OpenManage via the Intel
         IPMI/DMI/SMI whatever?

      *) Can Cisco FEC or 802.3ad provide reundancy between two switches and
         one server w/ two NICs? Will NetGraph ever have a 802.3ad module?

      *) What combination of Switch and NIC related teaming / failover technology
         are known to be compatible with FreeBSD ?

    TIA,
    ~BAS
    _______________________________________________
    freebsd-questions@freebsd.org mailing list
    http://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/freebsd-questions
    To unsubscribe, send any mail to "freebsd-questions-unsubscribe@freebsd.org"

  • Next message: Lowell Gilbert: "Re: Is it possible to mount MSDOS partitions on the 5.4 fixit floppy?"

    Relevant Pages

    • Re: Multi-homed MSCS servers
      ... I am more concerned about excess traffic on a single NIC, not a subnet. ... The VLAN's are configured on the switches with each NIC connected with only ... one IP to a single segment. ... from,...not from sticking extra nics in the machines. ...
      (microsoft.public.windows.server.networking)
    • Re: Windows 2003 network drop problem.
      ... The server is acting as a second firewall ... > As for Switches, I've tried two Different SMC switches, a 8 and a 32 port, ... > As I've said, I've essentially, switched all Nics, all cables, and all ... > it's just a bug in SP1 or one of the security updates since then. ...
      (microsoft.public.win2000.networking)
    • Re: Windows 2003 network drop problem.
      ... completely different IP's and subnets. ... As for Switches, I've tried two Different SMC switches, a 8 and a 32 port, ... As I've said, I've essentially, switched all Nics, all cables, and all ... it's just a bug in SP1 or one of the security updates since then. ...
      (microsoft.public.win2000.networking)
    • Re: Forcing Duplex settings
      ... We have ssen similar problems with some Intel nics, ... The problem is that at least CISCO switches and these ... There is a wmi value to read out the connection speed but that is read ...
      (microsoft.public.windowsxp.setup_deployment)
    • slow auto-netogtiate 1000Mbps causing netlogon problems
      ... I always manually set the port speed and duplex on ... switches and nics if possible. ... >OS: Windows 2003 Server ...
      (microsoft.public.windows.server.networking)