Failover for Redundant Ethernet

Failover for Redundant Ethernet

The Netfinity Server (5000, 5500, 5600) has an integrated Ethernet controller.
The IBM Netfinity 10/100 Fault Tolerant Adapter is an optional redundant network interface card (NIC adapter) that you can install in the server.
If you install this NIC adapter and connect it to the same logical segment as the primary Ethernet controller, you can configure the server to support a failover function. You can configure either the integrated Ethernet controller or the NIC adapter as the primary Ethernet controller. In failover mode, if the primary Ethernet controller detects a link failure, all Ethernet traffic associated with it is switched to the redundant (secondary) controller. This switching occurs without any user intervention. Applications with active sessions do not experience any data loss. When the primary link is restored to an operational state, the Ethernet traffic automatically switches back to the primary Ethernet controller.
Note that only one controller in the redundant pair is active at any given time. For example, if the primary Ethernet controller is active, then the secondary Ethernet controller cannot be used for any other network operation.

Note: the operating system determines the maximum number of IBM Netfinity 10/100 Fault Tolerant Adapters that you can install in the server. See the documentation that comes with the adapter for more information.

See Special Considerations when Combining Failover and Hot-Plug Functions