The Mechanics Of Teaming For The Advanced User; Section Objectives And Prerequisites; Architecture Of Hp Integrity Networking Adapter Teaming; The "Networking Layers" Of An Operating System - HP Integrity rx2800 - i2 White Paper

4 The Mechanics of Teaming for the Advanced User

Section Objectives and Prerequisites

This section is intended to provide an in-depth technical discussion of the mechanics of HP
Integrity Network Adapter Teaming for the advanced user. This section assumes the reader has
read the previous sections in this white paper and has hands-on experience in the deployment
and usage of HP Integrity Network Adapter Teaming.

Architecture of HP Integrity Networking Adapter Teaming

The "Networking Layers" of an Operating System

Within an operating system (OS), a hierarchy of layers work together to enable one OS to
communicate with another OS. Each of these layers performs a separate function and passes
information between the layers above and below it. Within Windows Server operating system,
there are four layers that are important to understand when discussing HP Integrity Network
Adapter Teaming: the Miniport layer, Intermediate layer, NDIS layer, and Protocol layer.
• Miniport layer
The network adapter driver resides at the Miniport layer. This driver is responsible for
directly controlling the hardware. It is necessary for basic network adapter functionality
and is used even when HP Integrity Network Adapter Teaming is not deployed. Typically,
this driver is written by the OEM vendor of the network adapter hardware. HP network
adapter drivers (for example, e1000645.sys and b57xp64.sys) are referred to as Miniport
drivers.
• Intermediate layer
The Intermediate layer driver provides a network function, but is not considered a Miniport
because it does not directly control a piece of hardware. The Intermediate layer driver
performs a function that is in between the Miniport layer and NDIS (OS protocol stack). The
networking function that is performed by the Intermediate layer is beyond the ability of a
Miniport layer driver. In this case, HP Integrity Network Adapter Teaming is considered
an Intermediate driver (in other words, CPQTEAM.SYS). Its function is to make several
Miniport drivers seamlessly work as a single virtual network adapter that interfaces with
NDIS. VLANs are also implemented as this layer. Another example of an Intermediate driver
is the NLB (Network Load Balancing) feature in Microsoft Windows.
• NDIS
Microsoft's implementation of the Network Driver Interface Specification (NDIS), handles
communication between the all layers, either Miniport drivers or Intermediate drivers, and
the Protocol layer (for example, IP, IPX, etc.). NDIS is more than just a single layer since it
operates "around" all the layers to allow them to work together.
• Protocol layer
The Protocol layer is where IP, IPX, AppleTalk, and the like interface with NDIS. This layer
is responsible for Protocol addresses (for example, IP or IPX addresses), and also for
translating Layer 3 addresses (in other words, IP addresses) to Layer 2 addresses (in other
words, MAC addresses).
In the absence of an Intermediate driver, a protocol address is usually assigned to each
individual Miniport driver. However, when utilizing HP Integrity Network Adapter Teaming,
the protocol address is assigned to a single HP Integrity Network Adapter Teaming instance
that represents the underlying Miniports. If more than one HP network adapter team exists
in a single server, there will be more than one instance of the HP network adapter team and
an individual protocol address will be assigned to each instance.
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