Re: Inexpensive, good gigabit ethernet NIC?

From: Dohhhh (whynot_at_verizon.net)
Date: 09/29/05 

Date: Thu, 29 Sep 2005 21:30:27 GMT

Tom Roggeveen wrote:
> Dohhhh wrote:
>
>> Nathan wrote:
>>
>>> 1) no idea
>>>
>>> 2) I assume this is a single p655 node with a RIO drawer? I thought
>>> the p655's only took Federation SP switch adapters, not SP2 (Colony),
>>> but I could be wrong.
>>>
>>> Installing cards can be a pain with the blind swap cassets (You will
>>> need to find cassets also if your system is missing them). It works
>>> if you have enough patience. Also, there are several different styles
>>> of cards, the type that have screws are the most difficult to
>>> assemble, the "screw-less" are easier to work with. If you've never
>>> done it before give yourself 2-3 hours to get the card in the bind
>>> swap adapter and into the machine (That's no exageration). More if
>>> you aren't mechanicly inclined.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Dan Stromberg wrote:
>>>
>>>> We're looking for the following information about a (probably) 3rd
>>>> party,
>>>> gigabit ethernet NIC for a P655 running AIX 5.1 (5.2 is possible but
>>>> unlikely, last I heard 5.3 was not possible in this case).
>>>>
>>>> 1) What vendors have good deals on GigE NIC for a P655
>>>> (price/performance
>>>> would hopefully be low). We'd even consider a refurb, if they're
>>>> available.
>>>>
>>>> 2) What precisely would be involved in installing that NIC? The
>>>> machine
>>>> has 5 NIC's right now, all from IBM. They are 2 * 100BaseT, 2 *
>>>> 1000BaseT, and 1 * an SP2 interface. I understand the SP2 wiring is
>>>> pretty sensitive to being giggled.
>>>>
>>>> Thanks!
>>
>>
>>
>> Also, if you look on one of the cassettes, there is (usually) a URL to
>> a document which describes (pictures and everything <G>) how to
>> extract the adapter and reassemble things...not sure how "mechanically
>> inclined" I am (let's put it this way, I once put a faloojin pin in a
>> felacme rod - didn't do too well <G>) but I can now swap out an
>> adapter (regardless of the casette type) and reassemble and reinserted
>> in the drawer in under 15 minutes.
>>
>> BTW, you *are* aware that the cassette/adapter can just be pulled out
>> of the drawer as long as it's NOT assigned to a LPAR, yes? (took me
>> forever looking for a "hot swap" utility in the managed system -
>> dohhh) :-O
>>
>> Paul
>
>
> I think that an adapter/slot not assigned to a partition cannot be
> removed. You have to assign the adapter to a partition to be able to
> 'power-off' the slot to place/remove the adapter without damage.
>
> Regards, Tom.

Nope - just (carefully) extract the cassette, put in the new one,
refresh ("rebuild") the managed system...wait a few minutes and voila.
Done it multiple times w/o issue. I do agree, it is more "logical"
doing it by assigning the slot to an LPAR but that's NOT a requirement.

Paul