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Re: bl860/bl870, OpenVMS and Flex10

 
The Brit
Honored Contributor

bl860/bl870, OpenVMS and Flex10

Is anyone out there running OpenVMS on bl860's or bl870's, and using Flex10 Virtual Connect modules???

I am having a problem right now in that, although my VC profile, Ethernet networks and UplinkSets are all set up correctly, and showing "Linked/Active", I am getting "Link Down" on all of my network devices.

I should add, that similar problems are being incurred by other administrators (Windowz and Linux) using proliant blades under the Flex10 modules. HP's response has been that it is related in some way to NIC drivers and VMWare, i.e. implying that it was related to proliant servers. However when I installed an Itanium, I found the same problem. And since OpenVMS Admins dont talk about "drivers" in the same way as Proliant Admins, I was wondering...

The problem definitely seems to be between the Blade NIC and the Flex10 Port.

I will be throwing this question into the Blades forum as well, however I specifically wanted to know if anyone has had any success running OpenVMS under Flex10.

thanks

Dave.
15 REPLIES 15
Ian Miller.
Honored Contributor

Re: bl860/bl870, OpenVMS and Flex10

Flex 10 is not yet supported with OpenVMS.
Current plans indicate later this year.
____________________
Purely Personal Opinion
The Brit
Honored Contributor

Re: bl860/bl870, OpenVMS and Flex10

Thanks for the response Ian. Can you point me to any documentation relating to this.

Dave.
Ian Miller.
Honored Contributor

Re: bl860/bl870, OpenVMS and Flex10

Documentation I know not.

I asked OpenVMS Product Management :-)
____________________
Purely Personal Opinion
The Brit
Honored Contributor

Re: bl860/bl870, OpenVMS and Flex10

Thanks again Ian,

I am pushing this back at HP Technical support who are working the issue for the Proliant guys.

I know it is unrealistic to expect these people to be upfront with this kind of information, however since OpenVMS is a fairly large part of our Blades Infrastructure, it would have been nice to have HP include this information explicitly. Instead of having to deduce it by ommission, or through alternative channels.

Dave
Richard Stockdale
Frequent Advisor

Re: bl860/bl870, OpenVMS and Flex10

VC module that supports Flex-10 is supported on VMS and has worked for a long time.

The Flex-10 behavior means that if a Flex-10 capable NIC is installed, the VC module will cause the O/S to instantiate a number of FlexNICs for each Flex-10 capable device.

But if a non-Flex-capable NIC is installed, the VC module treats it as just an ordinary NIC.

- Dick
The Brit
Honored Contributor

Re: bl860/bl870, OpenVMS and Flex10

Hi Dick,
I am interested in your response, and I assume you are speaking from personal experience. So far, I have had 3 responses, (1 here, and 2 directly from HP), indicating that Flex10 is not, and will not, be supported until the release of OpenVMS 8.4 later this year.

Having said that, I have also heard it rumoured that it may work (although not necessarily supported) with VCM Firmware version 2.25 or earlier. The downside of downgrading is that SmartLink was not working correctly with Flex-10 in that version. It could not differentiate the individual virtual NICs.

What version of VC Manager firmware are you running on your Flex-10 Modules ??

Dave
Richard Stockdale
Frequent Advisor

Re: bl860/bl870, OpenVMS and Flex10

The 3 response are correct. Flex-10 support on VMS is not there yet.

But the HP BL-c VC Flex-10 Enet Module Option (there are about 5 other names for it)(aka Bergstrom switch) has Flex-10 capability. To use Flex-10 you need to install a Flex-10 capable mezz card, an NC532m, which is not yet shipping on VMS (soon, but I'm not sure when).

So, you can install a Bergstrom switch in your BL860,870 and use it with the 5704 LOMs or with NC360,NC364 mezz cards, and this should all work. But the Bergstrom, since it won't be connected to a Flex-10 capable NIC, won't be in Flex-10 mode. So it will act as a vanilla switch.

So, I think your configuration should work. Bergstrom switches with 5704 LOM and NC36x mezz cards. Flex-10 is not involved.

As far as SmartLink is concerned, it works fine on my BL860 with NC532m and Bergstrom switch (which is in Flex-10 mode by virtue of connection to a Flex-10 capable NIC). I think I'm running released version of VC firmware (I probably picked it up 6 months ago).

- Dick
Richard Stockdale
Frequent Advisor

Re: bl860/bl870, OpenVMS and Flex10

One more thing, I'm assuming that you are using the Bergstrom switch with the 5704 LOMs or NC36x mezz cards. If you actually do have an NC532m, then you need to verify the Bergstrom firmware, NC532m firmware/efi driver, OA firmware and just verify everything in the enclosure. It would be a good idea to do this whether or not you have an NC532m.

If you have gone through the firmware for the enclosure and still have a problem, then post or send me output from:

lancp show dev/int
lancp show config

- Dick
The Brit
Honored Contributor

Re: bl860/bl870, OpenVMS and Flex10

Hi Dick,

What exactly is a "Bergstrom Switch"??

I have personnally never heard of it, and I have been running my bl860 blades and Virtual Connect for a couple of years now.

I tried Googling it and got zero hits!

Can you point me to some documentation/information regarding this.

Dave.