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6 Automatically viewing the network switch physical connection between iDRAC & server network ports
2 Feature Methodology
On a high-level, this feature is summarized in the following steps and also captured in the architecture
diagram:
 The switches will transmit LLDP traffic on every active port. This traffic contains the following TLV
packets encoded in the LLDP payload:
- Switch connection ID - Chassis Identifier – this corresponds to a unique identifier for the switch
(For example, the switch MAC address).
- Switch port connection ID - Port identifier – this is an identifier for the switch port
 The LLDP payload gets periodically transmitted by the switch.
 The server NIC port will receive and store the LLDP payload information.
 iDRAC will query NIC port (by using the sideband channels) and display the switch port information.
Switch 1 Switch 2
Server
iDRAC
LOM/NDC PCIe
TLV has
<Switch1, Port1>
TLV has
<Switch1, Port2>
TLV has
<Switch1, Port3>
TLV has
<Switch2, Port1>
TLV has
<Switch2, Port2>
Sideband Channel
Get Switch, Port Information