HP Integrity rx2800 HP Integrity Network Adapter Teaming Whitepaper - Page 22
Basic Teaming Versus Advanced Teaming, Active Path, Fast Path
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Basic Teaming Versus Advanced Teaming You can choose to use the basic HP Integrity Network Adapter Teaming features like NFT, TLB, and SLB, or the advanced teaming features such as Dual Channel, Dynamic Dual Channel, Active Path, and Fast Path. The following table summarizes these Basic and Advanced features. Table 3-1 Basic versus Advanced teaming features NFT NFT with Preference TLB TLB with Preference SLB 802.3ad Dynamic Link loss detection Transmit validation heartbeats Receive validation heartbeats Dual Channel Dynamic Dual Channel Active Path Fast Path Basic Teaming Features Advanced Teaming Features The basic redundancy mechanisms monitor each teamed port for link, the ability to transmit a frame, and the ability to receive a frame. These basic tests help HP Integrity Network Adapter Teaming choose teamed ports that have been validated for "simple" network connectivity. The advanced mechanisms provide advanced redundancy and load balancing. The advanced redundancy features are called Active Path and Fast Path, while the advanced load-balancing feature is called Dual Channel. These features provide network-aware intelligence to HP Integrity Network Adapter Teaming that was not previously available in any HP or non-HP server networking product. Details of these features include: • Active Path - Active Path is a mechanism used by HP Integrity Network Adapter Teaming to intelligently and proactively determine which teamed ports should or should not be used by the team based on "tested" connectivity with an external network device called an Echo Node. Each teamed port tests connectivity to the Echo Node by transmitting a frame to the Echo Node and monitoring for a response. Active Path can determine if teamed ports have become segregated onto different networks (for example, because of link loss on an upstream switch uplink, server network adapter ports connected to the wrong switch ports, VLAN misconfiguration on a switch, etc.). Teamed port segregation is determined based on successful communication with the Echo Node on a per teamed port basis. Active Path is extremely important for configurations with teamed ports connected to more than one switch. • Fast Path - Fast Path is a mechanism used by HP Integrity Network Adapter Teaming to intelligently and proactively determine the best teamed ports to use to provide optimum network connectivity for the server. As with Active Path, Fast Path can determine if teamed ports have become segregated onto different broadcast domains (because of link loss on an upstream switch uplink, server network adapter ports are connected to the wrong switch ports, VLAN misconfiguration on a switch, etc.) Also, Fast Path is used by HP Integrity Network Adapter Teaming to determine which teamed port is the optimal port to use as 22 Teaming Fundamentals for the First-Time User