HP NC51xx PCIe 10 Gigabit Server Adapter Software and Configuration Guide Part Number 436047-00E October 2007 (Fifth Edition)
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Contents Overview..................................................................................................................................... 4 HP PCIe 10 Gigabit server adapters ............................................................................................................ 4 System requirements .................................................................................................................................. 4 Installation and configuration ...........................
Overview HP PCIe 10 Gigabit server adapters This guide describes the system requirements, installation, and setup required for the following adapters: • HP NC510F PCIe 10 Gigabit Server Adapter • HP NC510C PCIe 10 Gigabit Server Adapter • HP NC512m Dual Port 10 GbE Multifunction BL-c Adapter System requirements Before installing the product, be sure that the minimum system configuration requirements have been met.
• Latest HP System ROM Overview 5
Installation and configuration Windows installation and configuration The following sections describe how to install the latest driver and firmware upgrade for HP NC51xx PCIe 10 Gigabit server adapters in supported Windows environments. You must install the driver before you update the firmware. HP updates networking software frequently to include new functionality and features. For the latest driver, firmware, and documentation updates go to the HP website (http://h18004.www1.hp.
Downloading the firmware utility and upgrading the firmware Download the firmware utility 1. Go to the HP website (http://www.hp.com). 2. Click Software & Driver Downloads from the left menu bar. 3. Type the product name in the For product box and press Enter. For example, type NC510F. 4. Select an operating system. 5. Select the Firmware-Network option appropriate for your operating system.
Command Definition Description -a, --all Update all of firmware Updates the flash memory using appropriate romimage file. The tool determines which rom image file to use. -r, --restore Restore flash memory Restores flash memory using backup romimage. The romimage is contained in the image file. --opt-rom-on Enable expansion ROM Enables the adapter's PXE functionality. --opt-rom-off Disable expansion ROM Disables the adapter's PXE functionality.
For an HP NC510x PCIe 10 Gigabit Server Adapter, verify that it is listed under Network adapters as shown in the following example.
For a dual port 10 GbE multifunction adapter, verify that it is listed under Network adapters as shown in the following example (two ports are displayed in the list for this dual port adapter: HP NC512m Dual Port 10 GbE Multifunction BL-c Adapter and HP NC512m Dual Port 10 GbE Multifunction BL-c Adapter #2).
As shown in the following example, a NetXen Management Interface entry is also listed in the Device Manager under System devices. This is a logical device. Do Not execute tests against the NetXen Management Interface. Modifying NC51xx 10 Gigabit adapter properties in Windows Although the default values should be appropriate in most cases, you can change any of the available options to meet the requirements of your specific system.
4. Select the Advanced tab. The list of properties and current values for the adapter appears. 5. Select the property to modify and adjust the Value as needed. 6. Save the settings by completing the following steps. a. When the adapter property configuration is complete, click OK to accept the settings. Close the Computer Management window. b. If prompted to restart your computer, click Yes.
Property Parameter Locally Administered Address Enables users or administrators to set the Locally Administered Address. This address overrides the permanent address of the adapter (that may have been flashed to the hardware). • Format: Hex • Values: Valid/Not Valid (if Valid, enter the 12 hex characters of MAC address) If an invalid MAC address is entered, an error message is logged in the event log.
Property Parameter Status Ring Size A descriptor ring size (queue size) for the status given by the network adapter to the driver. Setting this value too low will impact the throughput because the network adapter will start dropping packets. This parameter only affects receive operations and does not affect transmit operations.
o • • • • • • • Range = 1500|4074|8014 bytes Flow Control. Specifies the type of flow control that is needed. o Default = Enabled o Range = Disabled; Enabled Tx TCP Checksum Offload. Offloads the task of computing the checksum for outgoing TCP or UDP packets, thereby improving performance. o Default = On o Range = Off; On Rx TCP Checksum Offload. Offloads the task of computing the checksum for incoming TCP or UDP packets, thereby improving performance.
HP updates networking software frequently to include new functionality and features. For the latest driver, firmware, and documentation updates go to the HP website (http://h18004.www1.hp.com/products/servers/networking/index.html). Setting up the kernel source code The nx_intercept and nx_lsa drivers require that the kernel source code be installed and configured before building the drivers. Installing the kernel source code Install the kernel source code as described in the SUSE documentation.
Verify that the old package has been removed as follows: # rpm -q unm_nic or # rpm -q nx_nic 3. Install the nx_nic source rpm. # rpm -ivh nx_nic-.src.rpm 4. Build the binary RPM for the nx_nic driver. Red Hat installation: # cd /usr/src/redhat # rpmbuild -bb SPECS/nx_nic-.spec SLES 9/10 installation: # cd /usr/src/packages # rpmbuild -bb SPECS/nx_nic-.
Installing the nx_tools RPM The nx_tools RPM contains the nxflash firmware upgrade tool and the nxudiag user diagnostic tool (see Diagnostic utility (on page 32) for nxudiag functionality information). Complete the following steps to install this RPM. 1. Check for the existence of a current version of the nx_tools package: # rpm -q nx_tools If an old version of the package exists, remove the RPM package: # rpm -e nx_tools Verify that the old nx_tools package has been removed: # rpm -q nx_tools 2.
Uninstalling the nx_tools RPM The following command uninstalls the nx_tools RPM. # rpm -e nx_tools Driver settings The following settings are the default and optional parameters that the driver can set for the adapter. • Speed o • 10,0000 Mbps, full-duplex MTU o Default: 1500 o Range: 0-8000 Example: The following command illustrates how to set the MTU value.
o Range: Disable (0) or Enable (1) Example: The following command illustrates how to use the modprobe command to disable MSI with the use_msi option. # modprobe nx_nic use_msi=0 Driver message log Messages are logged in the following file. /var/log/messages Some Linux distributions may not display messages to the console. To set messages to display on the console, use the following command to control the level that messages display on the console. # dmesg -n x The x is a variable representing the level.
Configuring multiple NC510x PCIe 10 GbE adapters Multiple NC510x PCIe 10 GbE stand up adapters can be configured in a single system. • Requirements—HP recommends installing 2 GB of system memory per 10 GbE port. Each NC510x PCIe 10 GbE adapter installed must have a unique IP address assigned. NOTE: Windows 32 bit may require the Physical Address Extension (PAE) option to utilize 4 GB or more of memory.
• A Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) server — Used to assign an IP address to the network adapter and to specify a boot image to download and load. Typically, a system administrator configures a DHCP server to provide boot parameters. • A Trivial File Transfer Protocol (TFTP) server — Used by the network adapter to download a PXE boot loader. • System BIOS enabled for PCI Expansion ROM scanning of the PCI slot where the network adapter is installed.
Linux Socket Acceleration Using the Linux Socket Accelerator driver Linux Socket Accelerator (LSA) offloads a significant amount of TCP network processing to the HP NC51xx network adapter, which can greatly reduce host CPU utilization. LSA does not require the user to rebuild the Linux kernel because simple, loadable driver modules are used. Offload control can be based on the application name, local TCP port number, or remote TCP port number.
9. Install the source RPM package. # rpm -ivh nx_lsa-.src.rpm 10. Build the binary RPM for the nx_lsa package. Red Hat Installation: # cd /usr/src/redhat # rpmbuild -bb SPECS/nx_lsa-.spec SLES 9/10 Installation: # cd /usr/src/packages # rpmbuild -bb SPECS/nx_lsa-.spec If you get an error during the build process, see Setting up the kernel source code (on page 16) for information to configure the source tree correctly. 11. Install the new RPM package.
Command Definition -h, -help Displays a list of parameters for the nxoffload utility -p Port number to be offloaded -n Application name to be offloaded -t TCP tuple to be offloaded Comments Format: local IP, local port, remote OP, remove port. Example: ./nxoffload -a -t'0, 0, 0, 5001' .
• LSA does not support jumbo frames in this release. If the Maximum Transmission Unit (MTU) is set to jumbo, LSA will default back to a 1500 byte payload. • Newer versions of the Linux kernel will contain the netxen_nic driver, which supports the same devices as nx_nic except without the LSA interface. The netxen_nic driver must be manually removed and then the nx_nic driver must be installed prior to installing the nx_lsa driver.
STATUS—Not supported • TcpAttemptFails: The number of times TCP connections have made a direct transition from either the SYN-SENT state or the SYN-RCVD state to the CLOSED state plus the number of times TCP connections have made a direct transition from the SYN-RCVD state to the LISTEN state. STATUS—Supported • TcpEstabResets: The number of times TCP connections have made a direct transition from either the ESTABLISHED state or the CLOSE-WAIT state to the CLOSED state.
STATUS—Supported • IpInAddrErrors: The number of input datagrams discarded because the IP address in their IP header's destination field was not a valid address to be received at this entity. This count includes invalid addresses (for example, 0.0.0.0) and addresses of unsupported Classes (for example, Class E). For entities that are not IP routers and therefore do not forward datagrams, this counter includes datagrams discarded because the destination address was not a local address.
STATUS—Not supported • IpFragOKs: The number of IP datagrams that have been successfully fragmented at this entity. STATUS—Not supported • IpFragFails: The number of IP datagrams that have been discarded because they needed to be fragmented, but could not be at this entity (could not be fragmented because the Don't Fragment flag was set). STATUS—Not supported • IpFragCreates: The number of IP datagram fragments generated as a result of fragmentation at this entity.
Troubleshooting Unable to boot host system on Windows or Linux Problem: Unable to boot the host system with the network adapter installed on Windows or Linux operating systems. Troubleshooting: • Remove the network adapter and reboot. Verify that the system is able to boot without the network adapter. • Verify that the required minimum 2 GB of system memory per 10 Gigabit Ethernet port is installed on the host system.
Kernel messages To look for error messages occurred from the kernel, execute the following. dmesg cat /var/log/messages Miscellaneous troubleshooting tasks To look for routing table, gateway, or IP Address conflicts for all interfaces execute the following. route To verify network interface TX and RX counts during pings, execute the following. ifconfig Use ethereal, tethereal, nospace, or tcpdump utilities to capture packets then analyze the ping packets.
Diagnostics Diagnostic utility Please note that network traffic will be interrupted while you are running diagnostic tests.
Diagnostic test descriptions The diagnostic tests are described in the following section. Control registers. Reads the values stored in the control registers. The setting or clearing of specific bits during the initialization process indicates whether the board has been configured correctly. Performs a write/read back/compare operation to selected registers to verify each register's accessibility. Flash memory.
Technical support Before you contact HP Be sure to have the following information available before you call HP: • Technical support registration number (if applicable) • Product serial number • Product model name and number • Product identification number • Applicable error messages • Add-on boards or hardware • Third-party hardware or software • Operating system type and revision level HP contact information For the name of the nearest HP authorized reseller: • In the United States, see
• Navigate to a specific product, and then look for support information from the list of support resources at the HP support website (http://h18007.www1.hp.com/support/files/server). • For downloadable support software for HP Digital Networking Products, Hubs, Integrated Access Devices, Modems and ISDN, Adapters, Remote Access Concentrators/Servers, Software, and Switches, go to the HP software and drivers website (http://h18007.www1.hp.com/support/files/server).
Acronyms and abbreviations BIOS Basic Input/Output System CRC cyclic redundant checks DHCP Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol DMA direct memory access IP Internet Protocol LAA locally administered address LSA Linux socket acceleration LSO large send offload MAC Media Access Control QoS Quality of Service ROM read-only memory RPM Red Hat Package Manager Acronyms and abbreviations 36
TCP Transmission Control Protocol UDP User Datagram Protocol VLAN virtual local-area network Acronyms and abbreviations 37
Index A adapter properties 12 D diagnostics 32 diagnostics utility 32 driver installation procedures 6 F firmware 7, 17 L Linux installation 15 P PXE (preboot execution environment) 21 T technical support 34 W Windows 6 Index 38
