IBM 866011U - Netfinity 5500 - 8660, Hardware Maintenance Manual

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Failover for redundant Ethernet
The Netfinity 5500 has an integrated Ethernet controller.
The IBM Netfinity 10/100 Fault Tolerant Adapter is an
optional redundant network interface card (NIC adapter)
that you can install in the server. If you install this NIC
adapter and connect it to the same logical segment as the
primary Ethernet controller, you can configure the server to
support a
failover function. You can configure either the
integrated Ethernet controller or the NIC adapter as the
primary Ethernet controller. In failover mode, if the primary
Ethernet controller detects a link failure, all Ethernet traffic
associated with it is switched to the redundant (secondary)
controller. This switching occurs without any user
intervention. Applications with active sessions do not
experience any data loss. When the primary link is
restored to an operational state, the Ethernet traffic
automatically switches back to the primary Ethernet
controller.
Note that only one controller in the redundant pair is active
at any given time. For example, if the primary Ethernet
controller is active, then the secondary Ethernet controller
cannot be used for any other network operation.
Note
The operating system determines the maximum
number of IBM Netfinity 10/100 Fault Tolerant
Adapters that you can install in the server. See the
documentation that comes with the adapter for more
information.
Special considerations when combining
failover and hot-plug functions:
If the
operating system supports hot-plug PCI adapters and the
optional redundant NIC adapter is installed in a hot-plug
PCI slot, you can replace the NIC adapter without
powering off the server — even if it is the primary Ethernet
controller. Disconnecting the Ethernet cable from the
primary Ethernet controller will cause the Ethernet traffic to
be automatically switched to the secondary Ethernet
controller. This can be very useful when a network
problem is caused by faulty adapter hardware or when you
want to upgrade the primary adapter hardware.
Configuring for failover:
The failover feature
currently is supported by OS/2, Windows NT, and
IntraNetware. The setup required for each operating
system follows.
1. Add the redundant NIC adapter according to the
instructions provided with the adapter and in
“Adapters” on page 142.
2. Use ServerGuide to install the AMD PCNet Ethernet
Family adapter device driver.
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Netfinity Server HMM