BL460c NIC Team Issue

[jfh777]

BL460c G1
Windows 2003 x64
2 Onboard HP NC373i Multifunction Gb Server Adapters
Cisco Switches
c7000 Enclosure

I have RIS'ed dozens of BL460c servers with no issues over the past year. Something changed in our RIS image (and I am still working on that). Now RIS works fine, but after Windows boots and I team the NICs I lose my network connection. Maybe 1 out of 30 pings will go through.

I know it is a driver issue. But I have tried all drivers from support packs 8.15, 8.25, and 8.30, and various combinations of those.

The following combination (along with others)is messed up:
- HP NC373i driver 4.6.14.0 dated 10/16/08
- HP Network Team driver 9.35.0 dated 08/27/08
- HP NC373i Virtual Bus Device driver 4.6.16.0 dated 10/27/08

The following combination works:
- HP NC373i driver 4.8.5.0 dated 01/28/09
- HP Network Team driver 9.60.0.0 dated 01/30/08
- HP NC373i Virtual Bus Device driver 4.6.112.0 dated 03/11/09

WHY?

Where does the Team driver come from? Once it is RIS'ed and on the network, why can I not just install the latest updates and go merrily on my way??? Figuring out the proper combination of drivers stinks. Driver developers at HP should do that as part of their job so I can use their product. People have been writing driver files for years. This is not a new science.

Any helpful insight would be appreciated.

Regards,
Justin

[jfh777]

Let me ask another way...

What is the proper combination of NIC drivers and network configuration utility software to use on a BL460c G1 so that I can team the NICs successfully?

Anyone?
Justin

[GregorSu_1]

Hi Justin.

I think we now have the same problem as you had. Did you find the solution for yours? Thanks.

Gregor.

[jfh777]

I ended up putting one of my problem blades in another enclosure and it worked perfectly. In fact, many blades that had issues worked fine in another enclosure. So I think it may be heavy traffic on the backplane that is causing issues with one of the switches in the enclosure. If I test only one server in the enclosure, I cannot break it. So it seems to be the load that causes it. I have HP's attention on this, and I am planning to test with them the week after Christmas. I'll post back.

Regards,
Justin

[Vanwesemael Luc]

Can this Customer advisory "c01950839" have an impact on your problem?

Best regards.

Luc.

[jfh777]

Thank you for your response. The alert you referred to does not apply to my situation. I am using BL-series servers, and the symptoms I see are different. With our enclosure mostly empty, I may see if our network guy can research this a bit to see if it is switch-related. We can possibly upgrade the IOS on the switches... just not sure WHERE the problem lies at this point.

Regards.