HP ProLiant DL100 G2 Data Protection Storage Server administration guide (June 2006)

Configuring teaming
The teaming function allows you to group any available network adapters together to function as a team.
Teaming is a method of creating a virtual LAN (a group of multiple adapters that functions as a s ing le
adapter). The benefit of this approach is that it enables load balancing and failover. Teaming is done
through the Broadcom Advanced Ser ver Program software.
NOTE:
The load balan
ce algorithm in a team environment in which members are connected at different speeds
favors member
s connected with a Gigabit Ethernet link over members connected at lower speed links
(100 Mbps or 10 Mbps) until a threshold is met. This is normal b ehavior.
NOTE:
The Large Send Offload(LSO)andChecksumOffload properties are automatically enabled for a team
only if LSO and Checksum Offloadaresupportedandconfigured on all members of a team.
Types of load balance teams
The following sections describe four types of load balance teams.
Smart Load Balancing and Failover
In this type of team, a standby member handles the traffic if all of the loa d balance members fail (a
failover event). All load balance members have to fail before the standby member takes over. When
one or more of the load balance members is restored (fallback), the restored team mem bers resume the
handling of the traffic. The LiveLink feature is supported only for this type of team.
Link Aggre
gation (802.3ad)
In this typ
eofteam,youcandynamicallyconfigure the network adapters that have been selected
to partici
pate in a given team. If the link partner is not correctly configuredforIEEE802.3adlink
configura
tion, errors a re detected and noted. All adapters in the team are confi gured to receive packets
for the sa
me MAC address. The outbound load balancing scheme is determined by the BASP driver. The
link par
tner of the team determines the load balancing scheme for inbound packets. In this mode, at least
one of th
elinkpartnersmustbeinactivemode.
Generic Trunking (FEC/GEC)/802.3ad-Draft Static
This type of team is very similar to the link aggregation type, in that all adapters in the team must be
configured to receive packets for the same MAC address. This mod e d oes n ot provide link aggregation
control protocol (LACP) or marker protocol support. This mode supports a variety of environments where
the link partners are statically configured to support a proprietary trunking mechanism. Trunking supports
load balancing and failover for b oth outbound and inbound traffic.
SLB (A
uto-Fallback Disable)
This t
eam is identical to Smart Load Balancing and Failover, with the following exception—when the
stand
by member is active, if a primary member com es back on line, the team continues using the
stan
dby member rather than switching back to the primary m ember. This type of team is supported only
for s
ituations in which the network cable is disconnected and reconnected to the network adapter. It
is not supported for s ituations in which the adapter is removed/installed through Device Manager
or Hot-Plug PCI.
For further information regarding teaming p rotocols, see "Te am ing" in the Broadcom NetXtreme 57XX
Use
rGuide.
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Network adap ter teaming