Blade Server Ethernet Controller Enumeration - IBM BladeCenter HS20 7981 Problem Determination And Service Manual

Note: Changes are made periodically to the IBM Web site. The actual procedure
might vary slightly from what is described in this document.
1. Go to http://www.ibm.com/support.
2. Under Search technical support, type 7981, and click Search.
3. In the Additional search terms field, type ethernet, and click Go.
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.

Blade server Ethernet controller enumeration

The enumeration of the Ethernet controllers in a blade server is operating-system
dependent. Through the operating-system settings, you can verify the Ethernet
controller designations that a blade server uses.
The routing of an Ethernet controller to a particular I/O-module bay depends on the
type of blade server. You can verify which Ethernet controller is routed to which
I/O-module bay by using the following test:
1. Install only one Ethernet switch module or pass-thru module in I/O-module bay
2. Make sure that the ports on the switch module or pass-thru module are enabled
3. Enable only one of the Ethernet controllers on the blade server. Note the
4. Ping an external computer on the network that the switch module is connected
If you have installed an expansion card in a blade server, communication from the
expansion card is routed to I/O-module bays 3 and 4, if these bays are supported
by your BladeCenter unit. You can verify which controller on the card is routed to
which I/O-module bay by performing the same test and using a controller on the
expansion card and a compatible switch module or pass-thru module in I/O-module
bay 3 or 4.
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BladeCenter HS20 Type 7981: Problem Determination and Service Guide
1.
(I/O Module Tasks → Management → Advanced Management in the
management-module Web interface).
designation that the blade server operating system has for the controller.
to. If you can ping the external computer, the Ethernet controller that you
enabled is associated with the switch module in I/O-module bay 1. The other
Ethernet controller in the blade server is associated with the switch module in
I/O-module bay 2.