Ethernet Support Guide for HP-UX 11i v3

Table 3 Description of features (continued)
DescriptionFeature
To avoid flooding the host system with too many interrupts, packets are collected so one single
interrupt is generated for multiple packets. Some driver interfaces have attributes that allow
Interrupt coalescing
you to configure the minimum time between interrupts. For 10Gigabit Ethernet drivers, see
the nwmgr_driver(1m) manpage, where driver is the name of the driver.
SmartLink feature enables effective, reliable link redundancy, load sharing, and fast
convergence for switches and Virtual Connect networks.
Link handling
HP-UX dynamically loadable kernel module. Defined as such a module, a new driver can be
installed without having to reboot the system. Improves system availability by allowing device
drivers to be configured into the kernel while the system is running.
DLKM
Link aggregation or trunking feature that provides the ability to logically group two or more
physical network ports into a single “Fat Pipe” or “trunk”. Network traffic is load balanced
HP Auto Port
Aggregation (APA)
across all the links in the aggregation, allowing for large bandwidth logical links into the
server. The links are highly available and completely transparent to the client and server
applications. For more information, see the HP-UX APA documentation at www.hp.com/go/
hpux-APA-docs, and the nwmgr_apa(1m) manpage.
HP APA allows you to combine physical link ports into one failover group formed by LAN
Monitor. The failover group is used for an alternative when a particular link fails.
HP APA failover
(LAN_MONITOR mode)
Accelerated Virtual Input/Output. An I/O protocol that improves virtual I/O performance for
network and storage devices used within the Integrity Virtual Machines environment. The
HPVM AVIO
protocol also enables support for a greater number of virtual I/O devices per guest. For more
information, see http://www.hp.com/go/hpux-hpvm-docs.
The networking feature that allows virtual machines to directly control I/O devices, minimizing
device emulation overhead that would be incurred with AVIO.
HPVM Direct Input
Output (DIO)
HP-UX cluster solution that keeps critical application services continually up and running.
Services are maintained on multiple servers in the cluster and can be moved between servers
HP Serviceguard
automatically, such as in response to a failure, or by command, such as when a Network
Administrator needs to bring a server down to install a new LAN adapter. For more information,
see http://www.hp.com/go/serviceguard and http://www.hp.com/go/hpux-SG-docs.
Online Addition, Replacement, and Deletion (OL*) of network cards. Server does not need
to be powered off to replace a network card. For more information, see the Interface Card
PCI OLRAD
OL* Support Guide at http://www.hp.com/go/hpux-core-docs (select HP-UX 11i v3) and
the olrad(1m) manpage.
Fiber-optic based (Base-SX) and copper-based (Base-T) cards are not considered to be like
cards for OL*; that is, you cannot replace a Base-SX card with a Base-T card, and vice versa.
If PCI error occurs, allows HP-UX system to avoid a Machine Check Abort (MCA) or a High
Priority Machine Check (HPMC). Without the PCI Error Handling feature installed, PCI slots
PCI Error handling/
recovery
1
are set in hardfail mode. If a PCI error occurs when a slot is in hardfail mode, an MCA or
HPMC will occur, then the system will crash. When the PCI Error Handling feature is installed,
the PCI slots containing I/O cards that support PCI Error Handling will be set in softfail mode.
If a PCI error occurs when a slot is in softfail mode, the slot will be isolated from further I/O,
the corresponding device driver will report the error, and the driver will be suspended. The
olrad command and the Attention Button can be used to online recover, restoring the slot,
card, and driver to a usable state. PCI Error handling and recovery requires installation of
the PCIErrorHandling-00 bundle.
HP-UX Virtual Partitions (vPars) software partitioning that divides an individual hard partition
or server into several smaller virtual servers, each with their own operating system, resources,
vPars V6
and applications. Any application or operating system-related failures can only impact or
bring down the vPar in which it is executing, without affecting other virtual partitions executing
on the same system. For more information, see www.hp.com/go/vpars and www.hp.com/
go/hpux-vpars-docs.
Collects information about Ethernet links on your system. Can be accessed through
WBEM-based clients. For more information, see http://www.hp.com/go/hpux-networking-docs
(click HP-UX 11i WBEM Software).
HP-UX LAN provider
1.5 Features offered by HP-UX drivers and associated cards 11