HP ProCurve 2910al, LACP trunking 1

[pinkpanther56]

We have just purchaced two of these switches, the first HP's that we have seen. I'm currently learning how to use them in testing and I'd like to trunk two connections from one of our servers but i've run into a couple of problems and would like to ask a couple of questions.

1. Can LACP only be configured using the CLI and if so can this be done over the network using SSH or do I require a serial telnet connection?

2. Can a trunk be spread over the two switches to provide redundancy if one switch went down or do both links need to be in the same switch?

Thanks.

 

[unclerico]

1) Everything can be done via the CLI as well as the web interface. Depending on how familiar you are with other swtich vendor's CLI the HP CLI is very easy to learn. If you've never touched a CLI then you may want to stick with the web interface.
2) Stackable switches such as the 2900 series cannot span a trunk across multiple switches. You need a chasis based switch to do this. You may want to create a NIC team on the server and plug one port into each switch as opposed to aggregating the links.

I hate all Uppercase... I don't want my groups to seem angry at me all the time! =)
- ColdFlame (vbscript forum)

 

[pinkpanther56]

Hi thanks for the reply. I'm a bit in a the deep end at the moment so if I can't figure this i'll have to get someone in. I'm not very familiar with switch command line interfaces at all, i've used it before but only on an as needed basis.

The HP manual indicates that LACP can only be configured via CLI so I might be stuck with that, unless a team could do the same job. I'm basically wanting to provide two links to double the network speed but using only one IP, are you saying that I can achieve this with a card team (I was under the impression this was more for redundancy)?

 

[unclerico]

the command line to create a trunk will be this:

2910(config)# trunk ethernet <range_of_ports> trk<trunk_number> trunk

or 

2910(config)# trunk ethernet <range_of_ports> trk<trunk_number> lacp

so if I want to create a trunk with 2 ports, e1 and e2 using lacp I would type (the second one is for a static trunk that uses no trunking protocol):

2910(config)# trunk ethernet 1-2 trk1 lacp

2910(config)# trunk ethernet 1-2 trk1 trunk

on the server you'll still need to create a team, but in the team configuration you can specify whether or not it is a trunk (i guess i'm assuming this is HP server hardware). You MUST be sure that both sides match in terms of trunking protocol (if you are using LACP or static trunk).

I hate all Uppercase... I don't want my groups to seem angry at me all the time! =)
- ColdFlame (vbscript forum)

 

[pinkpanther56]

Thanks for that i'll take a look tomorrow, the server is actually a Sun unit. I'll also read up on the difference between static and dynamic trunks.

 

[pinkpanther56]

I could be doing something very silly here but if I ssh into the unit, login as root then select CLI in the menu and enter that command I get "Invalid input: trunk" as the responce.

This is how the command line looks "Procurve 2910al 48 Port# trunk ethernet 1-2 trk1 lacp"

 

[pinkpanther56]

Ok i've got it working now I was being silly

It now shows in the web interface,

Mode: Auto,
Flow Control: Enabled,
LACP: Disabled,
Trunk Type: LACP,
Trunk Group: Trk1

Can you tell me why LACP still shows as disabled is it due to the server not being setup to negotiate or have I still not got it set right?

Thanks.

 

[pinkpanther56]

Ok final update. It's still shows as LACP: Disabled, but it appears to be working.

 

[pinkpanther56]

Can i ask also do you need to update the ROM as well as the software, i've just updated to the latest software but couldn't see a download for the ROM are they not updated as frequently like a BIOS?


Software revision : W.14.27
ROM Version : W.14.04

Thanks.

 

[unclerico]

No the ROM versions are updated very infrequently. I'm glad you got it to work.

I hate all Uppercase... I don't want my groups to seem angry at me all the time! =)
- ColdFlame (vbscript forum)

 

[pinkpanther56]

Sorry to drag this back up again. Above you said "You may want to create a NIC team on the server and plug one port into each switch as opposed to aggregating the links."

Can you tell me the advantage of this?
Are the two cards still seen as one IP?

 

[unclerico]

well, the advantage of this is unless you are using a model of switch that can have multiple physical switch fabrics act as one you're not going to be able to create a link aggregation across multiple switches. The NIC team will give you the ability to plug one NIC into one switch and the other NIC into another switch. If one of the switches goes down you still have the other NIC up and functioning

the two cards are seen as one ip

I hate all Uppercase... I don't want my groups to seem angry at me all the time! =)
- ColdFlame (vbscript forum)

 

[EllettIT]

Just as an FYI to this discussion the 3500 and 6600 series switches support "server to switch" trunking across two switches. I think the chassis series (5400 and 8200) support it too.

 

[VinceWhirlwind]

You mean this?

ftp://ftp.compaq.com/pub/products/servers/networking/TeamingWP.pdf

I've heard very bad things from people who've tried this - going to have a go at it soon to see what they might have done wrong.

But you still can't get switch uplink redundancy using LACP.
Can't wait for that to all change.