Direct Connect - Compaq ProLiant 1600 Administrator's Manual

2-14 Compaq ProLiant Clusters HA/F100 and HA/F200 Administrator Guide
MSCS Configuration
MSCS allows you to configure a primary and backup path for intracluster
communication, which will reduce the possibility of an intracluster
communication disruption. Any network interface card (NIC) in the nodes can
be configured to serve as a backup path for node-to-node communication.
When the primary path is disrupted, the transfer of communication
responsibilities goes undetected by applications running on the cluster.
Whether a dedicated or public interconnect has been set up, a separate NIC
should be configured to act as a redundant interconnect. This is an easy and
inexpensive way to add redundancy to intracluster communication.
Redundant Interconnect Card
Another strategy to increase availability is to use a redundant interconnect
card. This may be done for either the dedicated intracluster communication
path, or for the client LAN. If you are using a dedicated, direct-connection
interconnect configuration, you can install a second dedicated,
direct-connection interconnect.
NOTE: If you are using the ServerNet option as the interconnect, the card itself has a
built-in level of redundancy. Each ServerNet PCI adapter has two data ports, thereby
allowing two separate cables to be run to and from each cluster node. If the ServerNet
adapter determines that data is being sent from one adapter but not received by the
other, it will automatically route the information through its other port.
There are two implementations that provide identical redundant NIC
capability. The implementation you choose will depend on your hardware. The
Compaq Redundant NIC Utility (originally called Advanced Network Fault
Detection and Correction Feature) is supported on all Compaq TI-based
Ethernet and Fast Ethernet NICs, such as NetFlex-3 and Netelligent 10/100
TX PCI Ethernet NICs. The Network Fault Tolerance feature is designed to
operate with the Compaq Intel-based 10/100 NICs. Combining these utilities
with the appropriate NICs will enable a seamless, undetectable failover of the
primary interconnect to the redundant interconnect.
NOTE: These two methods of NIC redundancy cannot be combined in a single redundant
NIC pair: TI-based NICs may not be paired with Intel-based NICs to create a redundant
pair. For more information, refer to the Compaq White Paper, " High Availability Options
Supported by Compaq Network Interface Controllers ," available at the Compaq High
Availability website (http://www.compaq.com/highavailability).