HP ProLiant DL100 G2 DPSS, Administration Manual

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Con fi guring teaming
The teaming function allows you to group any available network adapters together to function as a team.
Teaming is a method of creating a virtual LAN (a group of multiple adapters that functions as a single
adapter). The bene fi t of this approach is that it enables load balancing and failover. Teaming is done
through the Broadcom Advanced Server Program software.
NOTE:
The load balance algorithm in a team environment in which members are connected at different speeds
favors members connected with a Gigabit Ethernet link over members connected at lower speed links
(100 Mbps or 10 Mbps) until a threshold is met. This is normal behavior.
NOTE:
The Large Send Of fl oad (LSO) and Checksum Of fl oad properties are automatically enabled for a team
only if LSO and Checksum Of fl oad are supported and con fi gured on all members of a team.
Types of load balance teams
The following sections describe four types of load balance teams.
Smart Load Balancing and Failover
In this type of team, a standby member handles the traf fi c if all of the load balance members fail (a
failover event). All load balance members have to fail before the standby member takes over. When
one or more of the load balance members is restored (fallback), the restored team members resume the
handling of the traf fi c. The LiveLink feature is supported only for this type of team.
Link Aggregation (802.3ad)
In this type of team, you can dynamically con fi gure the network adapters that have been selected
to participate in a given team. If the link partner is not correctly con fi gured for IEEE 802.3ad link
con fi guration, errors are detected and noted. All adapters in the team are con fi gured to receive packets
for the same MAC address. The outbound load balancing scheme is determined by the BASP driver. The
link partner of the team determines the load balancing scheme for inbound packets. In this mode, at least
one of the link partners must be in active mode.
Generic Trunking (FEC/GEC)/802.3ad-Draft Static
This type of team is very similar to the link aggregation type, in that all adapters in the team must be
con fi gured to receive packets for the same MAC address. This mode does not provide link aggregation
control protocol (LACP) or marker protocol support. This mode supports a variety of environments where
the link partners are statically con fi gured to support a proprietary trunking mechanism. Trunking supports
load balancing and failover for both outbound and inbound traf fi c.
SLB (Auto-Fallback Disable)
This team is identical to Smart Load Balancing and Failover, with the following exception—when the
standby member is active, if a primary member comes back on line, the team continues using the
standby member rather than switching back to the primary member. This type of team is supported only
for situations in which the network cable is disconnected and reconnected to the network adapter. It
is not supported for situations in which the adapter is removed/installed through Device Manager
or Hot-Plug PCI.
For further information regarding teaming protocols, see "Teaming" in the
Broadcom NetXtreme 57XX
User Guide .
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NIC teaming