Configuring The Gigabit Ethernet Controllers - IBM LS20 - BladeCenter - 8850 Service Manual

Configuring the Gigabit Ethernet controllers

Two Ethernet controllers are integrated on the blade server system board. Each
controller provides a 1-Gbps full-duplex interface for connecting to one of the
Ethernet-compatible switch modules in I/O module bays 1 and 2, which enables
simultaneous transmission and reception of data on the Ethernet local area network
(LAN). Each Ethernet controller on the system board is routed to a different switch
module in I/O module bay 1 or bay 2. The routing from Ethernet controller to I/O
module bay will vary based on blade server type and the operating system that is
installed. See "Blade server Ethernet controller enumeration" on page 89 for
information about how to determine the routing from Ethernet controller to I/O
module bay for your blade server.
Note: Other types of blade servers, such as the BladeCenter HS20 Type 8678
blade server, that are installed in the same BladeCenter unit as this LS20 Type
8850 blade server might have different Ethernet controller routing. See the
documentation that comes with the other blade servers for detailed information.
You do not have to set any jumpers or configure the controllers for the blade server
operating system. However, you must install a device driver to enable the blade
server operating system to address the Ethernet controllers. For device drivers and
information about configuring the Ethernet controllers, see the Broadcom NetXtreme
Gigabit Ethernet Software CD that comes with the blade server. For updated
information about configuring the controllers, go to the IBM Support Web site at
http://www.ibm.com/pc/support/.
The Ethernet controllers support failover, which provides automatic redundancy for
the Ethernet controllers. Without failover, you can have only one Ethernet controller
from each server attached to each virtual LAN or subnet. With failover, you can
configure more than one Ethernet controller from each server to attach to the same
virtual LAN or subnet. Either one of the integrated Ethernet controllers can be
configured as the primary Ethernet controller. If you have configured the controllers
for failover and the primary link fails, the secondary controller takes over. When the
primary link is restored, the Ethernet traffic switches back to the primary Ethernet
controller. (See your operating system device driver documentation for information
about configuring for failover.)
Important: To support failover on the blade server Ethernet controllers, the Ethernet
switch modules in the BladeCenter unit must have identical configurations.
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