Ethernet Support Guide for HP-UX 11i v3

ManualsBrandsHP ManualsNetwork HardwareHP Gigabit Ethernet and 100Base-T Cards

Mbyte/s Megabytes per second; also referred to as MB/s.

Media Access

Control (MAC)

address

A unique identifier assigned to network interfaces for communications on the physical network

segment. MAC addresses are most often assigned by the manufacturer of a network interface

card (NIC) and are stored in its hardware, the card's read-only memory, or some other firmware

mechanism. If assigned by the manufacturer, a MAC address usually encodes the manufacturer's

registered identification number and may be referred to as the burned-in address. It may also be

known as an Ethernet hardware address (EHA), hardware address or physical address. A network

node may have multiple NICs and will then have one unique MAC address per NIC.

mezzanine card Also known as a daughterboard or daughtercard, plugs directly into the motherboard or another

plug-in card to extend functionality. It usually fits on top of and parallel to the board or card it

plugs into.

See also , combination (combo) card, LAN on motherboard (LOM), standup card.

MIB Management information base. An SNMP data structure that specifies what data can be obtained

from or controlled in a device.

MTU See maximum transmission unit (MTU).

network interface A communication path through which messages can be sent and received. A hardware network

interface has a hardware device associated with it, such as a LAN card. A software network

interface does not include a hardware device, for example, the loopback interface. For every IP

address instance, there must be one network interface configured.

network interface

card (NIC)

A function or device that is configured as a network or LAN I/O device.

node Any point in a network where services are provided or communications channels are

interconnected. A node could be a workstation or a server processor.

Online Addition/Replacement and Deletion (OL*)

The ability of a PCI-X I/O card to be added, replaced, or removed without the need to shut down

or reboot the system.

packet A sequence of binary digits that is transmitted as a unit in a computer network. A packet usually

contains control information plus data.

PCI-X Peripheral Component Interconnect-Extended or PCI-eXtended. An enhanced version of PCI bus

technology originally developed by IBM, HP and Compaq. PCI-X is a superset of PCI; PCI-X is

backward compatible with existing PCI cards. PCI-X cards can run in PCI slots though at the

slower PCI speed. 64-bit PCI-X slots are longer than 32-bit PCI-X slots.

PCIe Peripheral Component Internet Express. An enhanced version of PCI bus technology that includes

improvements over PCI and PCI-X, including higher maximum bus throughput, lower I/O pin

count and smaller physical footprint, better performance-scaling for bus devices, and more detailed

error detection and reporting. May support hardware I/O virtualization.

physical point of

attachment (PPA)

A unique number assigned to each network interface.

PMTU Path MTU

port The physical connection to the network. A NIC typically has two physical connections; this

configuration is often described as “dual-ported.”

PPA See physical point of attachment (PPA).

protocol A specification for coding messages exchanged between two communications processes.

RJ-45 The name for the connector type used with UTP cabling.

SCSI Small Computer System Interface. A set of standards for physically connecting and transferring

data between computers and peripheral devices such as printers, scanners, and disk drives. An

intelligent, peripheral, buffered, peer-to-peer interface that hides the complexity of the physical

format. All devices can attach to the SCSI bus in a similar manner. The SCSI interface provides

faster data transmission rates than standard serial and parallel ports. In addition, many devices

can be attached to a single SCSI port, qualifying a SCSI as an I/O bus rather than merely an

interface.