All:
This may be better for freebsd-cluster@freebsd.org, but that list is kind
of ghost town, and this question is more a standards-based:
Does anyone deploy Dell Poweredge in a HA configuration utilizing these
features?
http://www.intel.com/network/connectivity/resources/technologies/load_balancing.htm
http://www1.us.dell.com/content/topics/global.aspx/power/en/ps1q03_bhutani?c=us&cs=555&l=en&s=biz
http://www.broadcom.com/drivers/faq_drivers.php#55
Do we know what underlying standards and protocols compose these
"technologies"? 802.3ad, Cisco FEC?
Intel AFT claims to provide redundancy over a "team" of NICs. ALB claims
link aggregation; but they don't specify if they're doing it in hardware
or sofware (see Below)
Broadcom BASP claims the same, given different terminology and vendor.
I'm looking for a "fault tolerant" configuration for a HA cluster. "Load
balancing" and/or "link aggregation" is not required. I need to be able
to "team" two NICs into one Virtual NIC. Each NIC connects to two
redundant managed switches, on which the connecting switch ports exist in
the same VLAN (which is then ISL/802.1q trunked between them). Essentially
the same ethernet segment.
I see ng_one2many(4), but the man page doesn't really state what standard
that uses. It seems to be all in-kernel magic (LACP and 802.3.ad aren't
mentioned in the man page); will this meet the above requirements?
There were some ng_one2many(4) patches a while back to add more
intellegence, (FEC/802.3ad heartbeat like control protocol)
http://marc.theaimsgroup.com/?t=107695977400002&r=1&w=2
...but no mention of them ever being commited.
I see ng_fec(4) also, but I don't think that Cisco Ethernet Channel can
occur between two switches and one server (correct me if I'm wrong).
I question the Hardware v.s. Software issue on the Intel NICs becase the
Dell PowerEdges Severs that happen to have Intel NIC Chipsets using em(4)
(many have Broadcom), seem to automatically try to "team" NICs when
they're connected to unmanaged PowerConnect switches, breaking ng_one2many
logic. They constantly alternate MAC addresses between the primary
ethernet, the secondary ethernet, and a 3rd 1-byte-off Virtual MAC.
This automatic attempt to team seems like a hardware feature. If it was a
software feature, in theory it wouldn't try to team w/o being instructed
to?
On the other hand, *managed* Dell PowerConnect switches feature something
called "LAG", which the docs describe as 802.3ad / LACP.
I haven't tried ng_one2many on non-Dell or Dell Managed switches to see if
the MAC address "bouncing" problem persists, but I'll try that today.
So the big question:
*) Is the Windows/Linux-only software for configuring "teams" of NICs,
described in the URLs below, designed to configure a hardware level
feature that might have more intellegent link failure detection than
ng_many2one? (I.e., other than just lost carrier, say, STP storm
detection or excessive packet error thresholds). Or is it software?
*) If it is a hardware feature, could our em(4) driver be adapted or
could it possibly be configured using OpenManage via the Intel
IPMI/DMI/SMI whatever?
*) Can Cisco FEC or 802.3ad provide reundancy between two switches and
one server w/ two NICs? Will NetGraph ever have a 802.3ad module?
*) What combination of Switch and NIC related teaming / failover technology
are known to be compatible with FreeBSD ?
TIA,
~BAS
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