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Asset ID: 1-79-1400522.1
Update Date:2012-05-18
Keywords:

Solution Type  Predictive Self-Healing Sure

Solution  1400522.1 :   Virtualized 40 GbE Network Express Module Product Page  


Related Items
  • Sun Blade 6000 System
  •  
Related Categories
  • PLA-Support>Sun Systems>SAND>Network>SN-SND: Sun Network Interfaces
  •  
  • .Old GCS Categories>Sun Microsystems>Operating Systems>Solaris Network
  •  




In this Document
Purpose
Details
 Product Support Team
 Alerts
 Description
 Abbreviations/Acronyms
 Versions
 Hardware Versions
 Software Versions
 Compatibility/Patches
 Hardware Compatibility Matrix
 Software Compatibility Matrix
 Configuration
 Pathes/Packages
 Configuration Files Location
 Important configuration commands
 FAQ
 Can we use Link Aggregation with sxge ?
 Information Gathering
 Installation
 De-installation
 Troubleshooting
 Performance
 Lab
 Contacts
 Proactive
 Further Reading
References


Oracle Confidential (PARTNER). Do not distribute to customers.
Reason: Solaris and Network Domain (SaND) Product Page, internal content


Applies to:

Sun Blade 6000 System
Information in this document applies to any platform.

Purpose

This document contains the Virtualized 40 GbE Network Express Module (sxge) Product Page

Details

Product Support Team


PLA: SN-SND: Sun Network Interfaces (L2)

 

Alerts


 

 

Description


SOL NEM

  • The Sun Blade 6000 Virtualized 40 GbE Network Express Module (NEM) is a multi-purpose connectivity module for the Sun Blade 6000 modular system.
  • The NEM supports connection to external devices through four 10 Gigabit Ethernet small form-factor pluggable (SFP)+ ports and connects server modules (blades) in a Sun Blade 6000 modular system chassis.
  • The SFP+ ports can be used in 1x 10GBE, 2x10GBE or 1x 40GBE configuration
  • The NEM's interface is visible on the blade system via the sxge driver.
  • The NEM is also known as "SOL NEM" (project name).
  • sxge is a multithreaded, loadable, clonable, GLDv3-based STREAMS driver.
  • GLD is a multithreaded, clonable Generic LAN Driver support module which resides in a loadable kernel module, /kernel/misc/gld. It implements most of the STREAMS functions and DLPI(7P) functionality required of a LAN driver. Several Solaris network drivers are implemented using GLD.
  • The NEM also provides the magnetics and RJ-45 connectors for the ten 10/100/1000 BASE-T Ethernet interfaces that come from server modules through the midplane. There is no active circuitry on the NEM for these GbE ports.
  • The total number of Ethernet ports is 14.

 

Abbreviations/Acronyms

  • 10GBE - 10 Gigabit Ethernet (according to IEEE 802.3ae)
  • 40GBE - 40 Gigabit Ethernet (according to IEEE 802.3ba)
  • FDX - Full Duplex: Capability to send and receive frames at the same time.
  • HDX - Half Duplex: Either send or receive frames at given time.
  • IEEE - Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc., standardizes Ethernet
  • Jumbo Frame - An Ethernet frame which is larger than 1518 bytes (typical 9000 bytes).
  • NIC - Network Interface Card
  • VLAN - Virtual LAN, the ability to have several independent net segments within one hardware.
  • LAN - Local Area Network, network which is geographically limited (typically to a 1 km radius, e.g. within a building)
  • IEEE 802.3ae - 10 Gigabit Ethernet Standard

Versions


Hardware Versions

 

NEMOptionsupported Architecturemax # of 10GBE CardsComment
14-Port Virtualized 40-Gigabit Ethernet
Network Express Module

(Project SOL NEM)
7100090Blade 6000:
SPARC, x86
2
 Document Library

 

Software Versions

  • unbundled sxge driver for older Solaris, Linux, Windows - obtain via MOS Patches and Updates
  • Solaris bundled sxge driver startin with Solaris 10 U11

Note - do not overwrite the Solaris bundled version with downloaded unbundled version

 

Compatibility/Patches


Hardware Compatibility Matrix

Software Compatibility Matrix

 

 

    b6k SOL NEM - sxge
   SPARC   x86 
Solaris
Release 
  10 up to U8 N/S N/S
  10 U9
142909-17 142910-17 
144488 (ip and kernel patch) (1) 144489 (ip and kernel patch) (1)
  10 U10
144500-19 144501-19 
147440 (ip and kernel patch) (1) 147441 (ip and kernel patch) (1)
  10 U11
 
N/P, sxge is bundled N/P, sxge is bundled
  11 recent SRU, sxge is bundled recent SRU, sxge is bundled
Linux
Release
Oracle Linux (OEL) 5.3 - 6.1 (64-bit), 6.2 N/S (1)
Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) 5.3 - 6.1 (64-bit), 6.2 N/S (1)
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server (SLES) 10SP3 - 11SP1 (64-bit), 11SP2 N/S (1)
Windows
Release
Windows 2008 R2 (64-bit), SP2 (64-bit) N/S (1)
Virtualizer
Release
VMware ESX 4.0 U1+U2, ESXi 4.0 U1+U2 N/S (1)
Oracle VM 3.0.1+3.0.2 N/S (1)
Key: 
N/S - Product not supported on this OS 
N/P - No patch needed for this OS 
N/A - Not Available 
(1) - Download sxge via MOS Patches and Updates (patch p12918641_100_Generic.zip or newer)

Configuration


    • Pathes/Packages

      • SUNWcarx - Core Architecture Root (64-bit), contains gld (SPARC)
      • SUNWcsr - Core Solaris Root, contains gld (x86)
      • SUNWdsxge - Contains the sxge driver
      • 5.11 pkg : driver/network/ethernet/sxge
    • Path:
    • Manual search path: /usr/man

 

    • Configuration Files Location

      • /etc/hostname.sxge<instance>
      • sxge.conf, e.g. /kernel/drv/sxge.conf

 

  • Important configuration commands

    • Configure Jumbo Frames
      Edit /kernel/drv/sxge.conf, remove comment before accept-jumbo = 1; and reboot :

      ...
      # To enable jumbo support,
      accept-jumbo = 1;
      #
      # To disable jumbo support,
      # accept-jumbo = 0;
      #
      # Default is 0.
      ...
    • Configure VLAN tagging (802.1q)
      • VLAN tags get enabled by using "magic instance numbers", consisting of the original instance and the VLAN tag.
      • boot persistant config: create /etc/hostname.hcge<vlan-tag><instance number>
      • The hostname in this file should be found in /etc/hosts
      • The VLAN tag must be the same on the switch the Hydra NEM is connected to
                                              instance # (last 3 digits, value=0 -> uses sxge0 interface)
                                              |||
                         /etc/hostname.sxge123000
                                           |||
      VLAN tag (digit 4 and higher, value=123)
      
      # cat /etc/hostname.sxge123000
      va64-x6440b-gmp03
      # grep va64-x6440b-gmp03 /etc/hosts
      129.156.213.163 va64-x6440b-gmp03
      # ifconfig sxge123000
      sxge123000: flags=sxge123000 mtu 1500 index 2
                  inet 129.156.213.163 netmask fffff800 broadcast 129.156.215.255
                  ether 0:21:28:29:90:69
      

 

FAQ


Can we use Link Aggregation with sxge ?

Answer:

    As the switch port of the external connection will not accept several Aggregations per port, Link Aggregation can not be used.

 

Information Gathering


 

Things to get:Comment:
Do you suspect a problem concerning 10/40 Gigabit Ethernet or IP ? If IP, the 10GBE part may not be relevant, use standard IP problem resolution expertise
network topology plan What is connected to what? (cable vendors and exact types, connections)
explorer output of all involved systems get hw/sw versions and error statistics
Things to try:Comment:
See Troubleshooting section  

 

 

  • Information needed to assign to an other support group or level:
    • Short failure description including error or warning messages
    • Short customer situation including timeframes and business impact
    • Platform, part# and revision of NIC and PCI slot (if obtainable)
    • Explorer output (or path to it's location)
    • Network overview (detailed sketch, cable lengths, networking hardware)
    • Where is a test system connected (e.g. a "slow" client)
    • Short description of your measures to find and solve the problem before the handover

 

Installation


  • See User's Guide- it contains a section per supported OS.

 

De-installation


  •  See User's Guide.

 

Troubleshooting


  • get a problem object and defect (what is wrong with what)
  • did it work once ?
  • if so, what did change ?
  • collect information as described at Information Gathering
  • check ifconfig -a output if each interface has an unique MAC address
  • in most cases eeprom local-mac-address\? should be true (SPARC)
  • if several interfaces in same network are available on the system (e.g. an IPMP group): try to swap OK with not-OK cable connection
  • try to connect an OK system directly for an back-to-back test
  • try a different, tested cable
  • check switch link settings, compare with the system's.
  • check if packet counter increases via e.g.
    # kstat -p sxge:0 | grep packets64
    repeat twice
  • ping an adjacent system, repeat the above
  • snoop the interface,  inspect the output e.g
    # snoop -d sxge0 -s 128
  • collect a binary snoop for later inspection from problem time, e.g.
    # snoop -d sxge0 -o /tmp/snoop.out -s 128
  • check that all systems in the subnet have the same MTU size (e.g. all 1500 or all 9000)

 

Performance


  • See Relase Notes of Chassis, NEM and Blade Version for Hardware Requirements.
  • Ensure CPU capacity (cycles and cores) for sending and receiving frames. Recommendation: 2 CPUs per 10GBE NIC.
  • Use latest Solaris version for improved TCP/IP stack.
  • Use the Uperf traffic generator to measure throughput, start with a low thread number and increase as long as a performance gain is observed.

 

Lab


Use Global Lab / jsc

 

Contacts


 

Proactive


 

Further Reading

References

<NOTE:1400605.1> - TSC Network Product Home
<NOTE:1397771.1> - Virtualized Multi-Fabric 10GbE Network Express Module Product Page
<NOTE:1399483.1> - 10-Gigabit Ethernet Switches (Opus) Product Page
<NOTE:1400599.1> - Ethernet Product Page

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