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HP D2D 2504i High Availability/Bort Bonding

 
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Beth_3
Occasional Advisor

HP D2D 2504i High Availability/Bort Bonding

We have just purchased the 2504i D2D Appliance. It has 2 network ports. According to the user guide, the ports can be configured in the following ways:

1. single port = single netork
2. dual ports = 2 networks, 1 port for each network
3. high availability = 2 ports used on the same network for HA or for increased bandwidth, but the switch that the ports are connected to must support port bonding.

Here's the relevant portion from the user guide:

"High Availability Dual Port Configuration: Both network ports are used, but the two ports are bound
together.
Single port configuration is the default mode, but it may easily be changed from the Web Management
Interface. If dual port configuration is required, the networks must be on different sub-nets.
The High Availability mode provides increased bandwidth, but both network ports must be connected
to the same switch, which must support port bonding."

I have enabled HA on the ports on the D2D. Both ports connect to the same network on the same switch. The backend switch is a Cisco 6509. I have enabled port bonding on the 2 ports on the switch. Cisco calls this EtherChannel.

After putting the 2 ports into a bonded etherchannel, I can no longer ping the D2D or access it from Backup Exec or over HTTP.

I did not enable LACP or PAgP (port aggregation protocols) on the bonded Etherchannel on the switch.

Does anyone know how the ports are bonded on the D2D and how I should configure the bonded etherchannel on a Cisco switch?

Any help is appreciated.

Beth
Every problem can be solved.
6 REPLIES 6
DanC_1
Frequent Advisor
Solution

Re: HP D2D 2504i High Availability/Bort Bonding

The current implementation of "High Availability" mode ports on D2D products provides port failover and some limited level of bandwidth aggregation.
It uses Linux bonding mode 5 (adaptive transmit load balancing), this does not required LACP or Etherchannel configuration (in fact on Cisco switches configuring LACP/Etherchannel will result in connections not being possible).
So take any ports on the switch out of LACP/Etherchannel mode and it should work.
Beth_3
Occasional Advisor

Re: HP D2D 2504i High Availability/Bort Bonding

Thanks for the info Dan.

Indeed, when I pull the switch ports out of the etherchannel, I can access the D2D.

I am wondering if there is any way to change the bonding mode on the D2D to to #4:

mode=4 (802.3ad)
IEEE 802.3ad Dynamic link aggregation. Creates aggregation groups that share the same speed and duplex settings. Utilizes all slaves in the active aggregator according to the 802.3ad specification.

I am not so concerned about HA as I am with increasing the link speed for faster backups.

Looks like ATLB does a little bit to improve performance but only on outbound traffic. I need a boost on inbound traffic.

This is a linux kernel, so maybe this can be changed from the console? My switch supports 802.3ad, so I would love to take advantage of that if possible.

Beth

Every problem can be solved.
Dave Dewar
Trusted Contributor

Re: HP D2D 2504i High Availability/Bort Bonding

Beth,

You will have to wait for a future software update to get mode 4 enabled at the D2D.

Adding this feature is certainly on the list for either the next or one later release.

Right now as Dan states we have provided mode 5 mainly for fault tolerance and the fact it doesn't right any special switch configs.

Mode 4 is coming.

Beth_3
Occasional Advisor

Re: HP D2D 2504i High Availability/Bort Bonding

Dave,

You've been very helpful. Thank you.

Does anyone know when the firmware will be released to support Linux Bonding Mode 4 or which firmware version that will be?

Beth
Every problem can be solved.
Dave Dewar
Trusted Contributor

Re: HP D2D 2504i High Availability/Bort Bonding

Beth,

Its very unlikely mode 4 will make the next release currently aiming for Dec 09/Jan 10.

It is certain to make the one after which I would expect to be a couple of months later on.

Cheers,

Dave
Ralf Loehmann_2
Valued Contributor

Re: HP D2D 2504i High Availability/Bort Bonding

Hello Beth,

I am following the discussion and you were just saying for faster backup speed. Here I would ask you to check the best Practices Document for the D2D's, because backups with D2D's might be bit different what learned with physical tape drives. Maybe that helps to also improve your overall backup performance. Here the link (check at the end under White Papers):
http://h20000.www2.hp.com/bizsupport/TechSupport/DocumentIndex.jsp?contentType=SupportManualтМй=en&cc=us&docIndexId=64179&taskId=101&prodTypeId=12169&prodSeriesId=3896393


Ralf.