IBM BladeCenter Deployment Guide
If, however, the drivers are installed on the second Ethernet Controller in the list first, and then the first
Ethernet Controller in the list, the connection names are reversed, and the connection named Local Area
Connection is now the one going to switch 2, and the connection named Local Area Connection 2 is now
going to switch 1.
In older versions of Linux it was observed that eth0 went to the Ethernet switch in switch bay 2 and eth1
goes to the Ethernet switch in switch bay 1. This was reversed from a normal Windows 2000 install, as
previously mentioned, and also proves to be the source of some confusion. However, current testing
with Linux (Red Hat Version 3 Update 6) and SLES 9 has shown that eth0 goes to the Ethernet
switch in bay 1 and eth1 goes to the switch in bay 2. On an HS40 blade, 0 & 2 should be connected to
top switch module and 1 & 3 connect to the bottom switch module.
The designations can be verified by browsing the MAC address table on the Ethernet switch and match
the values to the MAC addresses show in the ifconfig output on the blade. The following example shows
the MAC address of Eth 0/1 devices. Log into the top switch module (bay 1) and search for the MAC
address on Internal port 13 (Bay 13) corresponding to Eth0 device. It shows the same MAC address of
Eth0. For Eth1, do the same by logging into switch module bay2 (bottom) and searching for the MAC
address on internal port 13, it also shows the same MAC address for Eth1.
[root@hs20-8843 root]# cat /proc/version
Linux version 2.4.21-27.ELsmp (bhcompile@bugs.build.redhat.com) (gcc version 3.2.3
20030502 (Red Hat Linux 3.2.3-47)) #1 SMP Wed Dec 1 21:59:02 EST 2004
[root@hs20-8843 root]# ifconfig -a
eth0 Link encap:Ethernet HWaddr 00:11:25:4A:00:4C
inet addr:9.42.166.82 Bcast:9.42.166.255 Mask:255.255.255.0
UP BROADCAST RUNNING MULTICAST MTU:1500 Metric:1
...
Browse MAC Address Table – Top Switch
VID MAC Address Port Learned
9 00-11-25-4a-00-4c Bay 13 Dynamic
eth1 Link encap:Ethernet HWaddr 00:11:25:4A:00:4D
inet addr:10.0.200.32 Bcast:10.0.255.255 Mask:255.255.0.0
UP BROADCAST RUNNING MULTICAST MTU:1500 Metric:1
...
Browse MAC Address Table – Bottom Switch
VID MAC Address Port
Learned
100 00-11-25-4a-00-4d Bay 13
Dynamic
Version 3.0, 3/10/2006 http://w3-03.ibm.com/support/techdocs/atsmastr.nsf/WebIndex/WP100564
The BladeCenter Deployment Guide is intended as a personal productivity tool. It is not intended to be comprehensive and is provided for
guidance only, on an 'as is basis' without warranty of any kind. Please be aware that its contents have not been certified by IBM.
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