Best Practices; Ip Address For Nic Bonds; Nic Bonding And Speed, Duplex, Frame Size, And Flow Control Settings; How Active-Passive Works - HP StorageWorks P4000 User Manual

Best practices

• Adaptive Load Balancing is the recommended bonding method, as it combines the benefits of the
increased transmission rates of 802.3ad with the network redundancy of Active-Passive. Adaptive
Load Balancing does not require additional switch configurations.
• Verify and, if necessary, change the Speed, Duplex, Frame Size, and Flow Control settings for
both interfaces that you plan to bond.
• Link Aggregation Dynamic Mode does not protect against switch failure, because both NICs must
be plugged into the same switch. Link Aggregation Dynamic Mode provides bandwidth gains,
because data is transferred over both NICs simultaneously. For Link Aggregation Dynamic Mode,
both NICs must be plugged into the same switch, and that switch must be LACP-capable, and both
support and be configured for 802.3ad aggregation.
• For Active-Passive, plug the two NICs on the storage system into separate switches. While Link
Aggregation Dynamic Mode will only survive a port failure, Active-Passive will survive a switch
failure.

IP address for NIC bonds

Allocate a static IP address for the logical bond interface (bond0). You cannot use DHCP for the bond
IP.

NIC bonding and speed, duplex, frame size, and flow control settings

These settings are controlled on the TCP Status tab of the TCP/IP Network configuration category. If
you change these settings, you must ensure that both sides of the NIC cable are configured in the
same manner. For example, if the storage system is set for Auto/Auto, the switch must be set the same.
See "TCP status
Table 19 Comparison of Active-Passive, link aggregation dynamic mode, and Adaptive Load Balancing
bonding
Feature
Bandwidth
Protection during port
failure
Protection during switch
failure
Requires support for
802.3ad link aggrega-
tion?

How Active-Passive works

Bonding NICs for Active-Passive allows you to specify a preferred interface that will be used for data
transfer. This is the active interface. The other interface acts as a backup, and its status is "Passive
(Ready)."
88 Managing the network
tab" on page 80 for more information.
Active-Passive
Use of 1 NIC at a time
provides normal band-
width.
Yes
Yes. NICs can be
plugged into different
switches.
No
Link aggregation dynam-
ic mode
Simultaneous use of both
NICs increases bandwidth.
Yes
No. Both NICs are plugged
into the same switch.
Yes
Adaptive load balancing
Simultaneous use of both
NICs increases bandwidth.
Yes
Yes. NICs can be plugged
into different switches.
No