Configuring The Gigabit Ethernet Controllers - IBM BladeCenter JS22 Problem Determination And Service Manual

Configuring the Gigabit Ethernet controllers

Two Ethernet controllers are integrated on the blade server system board. You
must install a device driver to enable the blade server operating system to address
the Ethernet controllers.
Each controller provides a 1000 Mbps full-duplex interface for connecting to one of
the Ethernet-compatible I/O modules in I/O-module bays 1 and 2, which enables
simultaneous transmission and reception of data on the Ethernet local area
network (LAN).
The routing from an Ethernet controller to an I/O-module bay varies according to
the blade server type, the BladeCenter unit, and the operating system that is
installed. For example, each Ethernet controller on the JS22 system board is routed
to a different I/O module in I/O module bay 1 or module bay 2 of the
BladeCenter H or HT.
See "Blade server Ethernet controller enumeration" on page 278 for information
about how to determine the routing from an Ethernet controller to an I/O-module
bay for the blade server.
Note: Other types of blade servers, such as the BladeCenter HS20 Type 8678 blade
server, in the same BladeCenter unit as the JS22 Type 7998 blade server might have
different Ethernet controller routing. See the documentation for a blade server for
information.
You do not have to configure controllers for the blade server operating system.
However, you must install a device driver for the blade server operating system to
address the Ethernet controllers. For device drivers and information about
configuring Ethernet controllers, see the Broadcom NetXtreme Gigabit Ethernet
Software CD that comes with the blade server. For updated information about
configuring the controllers, see http://www.ibm.com/systems/support/.
The Ethernet controllers in your blade server support failover, which provides
automatic redundancy for the Ethernet controllers. Failover capabilities vary per
BladeCenter unit.
Without failover, only one Ethernet controller can be connected from each server 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
the 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.
277
Chapter 5. Configuring