Failover for Redundant Ethernet
identical. Most applications and protocols that are currently installed on a standard
Ethernet system can be seamlessly migrated to a Fast Ethernet system. Because
of the equivalence of the two types of Ethernet, mixed Ethernet and Fast Ethernet
systems also can be designed and implemented.
The bandwidth required at each workstation connected to a server is generally far
less than the bandwidth required at the server. This is because the server might
have to handle the bandwidth of multiple workstations at the same time. A
cost-effective solution to the bandwidth requirements of this type of system is a
mixed Ethernet and Fast Ethernet network. This mixed network consists of
standard Ethernet connections at the workstations and Fast Ethernet connections at
the servers.
The Ethernet controller is a PCI device, and is therefore, a Plug and Play device.
You do not have to set any jumpers or configure the controller for your operating
system before you use the Ethernet controller.
Notes:
1. For troubleshooting information, see “Troubleshooting the 10/100 Mbps
Ethernet Controller” on page 149.
2. The Ethernet controller supports the operating systems that your server
supports. To find out which operating systems your server supports, go to the
following World Wide Web address:
http://www.pc.ibm.com/us/compat/
If you need additional Ethernet connections, you can install an Ethernet adapter,
such as an IBM 10/100 Ethernet adapter. Review your network-adapter
documentation for any additional configuration requirements.
Note: If you are installing an IBM 10/100 Ethernet adapter, be sure to run the
Ethernet controller diagnostics and record the Ethernet controller
configuration information before you install the adapter.
Failover for Redundant Ethernet
Your Netfinity 5000 server has an integrated Ethernet controller. The IBM Netfinity
10/100 Fault Tolerant Adapter is an optional redundant network interface card (NIC
adapter) that you can install in your Netfinity 5000 server. If you install this NIC
adapter and connect it to the same logical segment as the primary Ethernet
controller, you can configure the server to support a
failover
function. You can
configure either the integrated Ethernet controller or the NIC adapter as the primary
Ethernet controller. In failover mode, if the primary Ethernet controller detects a
link failure, all Ethernet traffic associated with it is switched to the redundant
(secondary) controller. This switching occurs without any user intervention.
Applications with active sessions do not experience any data loss. When the
primary link is restored to an operational state, the Ethernet traffic automatically
switches back to the primary Ethernet controller.
Chapter 3. Configuring Your Server 33
