V-Class PCI 10/100Base-TX and 100Base-FX/9000

Introduction

The PCI 10/100Base-TX and 100Base-FX/9000 products provide the means for interfacing various types of HP 9000 V-class computers to either a 10Base-T, 100Base-TX, or 100Base-FX network.

100Base-TX is a subset of 10Base-T networking defined by the IEEE 802.3u-1995 standard. 100Base-TX provides 100 Mbit/s data transmission over category 5 unshielded twisted-par (UTP) cable. Two pairs of wires in the cable are usedone wire pair is for receiving data, and one wire pair is for transmitting data. The same card port that supports 100Base-TX operation can also support 10Base-T operation.

IEEE 802.3u 100Base-TX LANs have topologies very similar to 10Base-T LANs; however certain aspects of the topology such as the maximum permitted cable lengths are more stringent for 100Base-TX than for 10Base-T. The category 5 UTP cable used in 100Base-TX networks between devices such as an HP computer and a 100Base-TX hub must be less than 100 meters long.

For more information on network topologies and associated specifications for 100Base-TX networking, refer to the IEEE 802.3u specification. Also, a useful practical reference is Fast Ethernet, Dawn of a New Network by Howard W. Johnson (published 1996 by Prentice Hall PTR, Upper Saddle River, New Jersey 07458. Phone 800-382-3419. The ISBN number is 0-13-352643-7).

Compatibility and Installation Requirements

Following are the limits of the current PCI 10/100Base-TX and 100Base-FX/9000:

Required and Optional Patches

The following patch is required in order to use the PCI 10/100Base-TX and 100Base-FX cards on the V-class servers: PHNE_14632 (or later)a patch for lanadmin changes on HP-UX 11.x versions. Please contact the Worldwide Enterprise Response Center if you need to ensure that you have the latest patches.

Configuring Network Connectivity

These instructions apply to the PCI 10/100Base-TX and 100Base-FX/9000 cards for the HP 9000 V-class server. They assume that the PCI 10/100Base-TX/9000 hardware card has been factory installed and the software already loaded on your disk. Note: the PCI 10/100Base-TX/9000 LAN is the core (default) LAN for the HP 9000 V 2200 server. The PCI 10/100Base-TX card operates at both 10Mbits/s and 100Mbits/s. The Base-TX card supports autonegotiation and autosensing. The PCI 100Base-FX card operates only at 100Mbits/s, in either full or half-duplex mode, but the fiber card does not support autonegotiation.

Manual Speed and Duplex Mode Configuration

Because the PCI 10/100Base-TX/9000LAN card supports autonegotiation, you should not normally need to manually set the duplex mode. Sometimes you may need to manually set the duplex mode of the cardfor example, if the switch is operating at full duplex but does not autonegotiate. Because the card defaults to half-duplex when autonegotiation is turned off, this could cause a mismatch between the card and switch (at either 10 or100 Mbits/s). To fix this, use the lanadmin -X command as described later in this section.The CSMA/CD media access method used in IEEE 802.3u-1995 is inherently a half-duplex mechanism. That is, at any one time, there can be only one sender of data on the link segment. It is not possible for devices on either end of the link segment to transmit simultaneously.

Since Category 5 UTP contains multiple pairs of wires, it is possible to have devices on both ends of a link segment sending data to each other simultaneously. This is known as full-duplex operation. While the details of full-duplex operation are not currently defined by IEEE 802.3u-1995 (full-duplex mode essentially involves "turning off" the CSMA/CD access method which is the foundation of IEEE 802.3), the autonegotiation mechanism defined in IEEE 802.3u-1995 allows devices to advertise and configure themselves to operate in a full-duplex mode which is essentially vendor-specific. Devices that do not support autonegotiation can sometimes be manually configured to operate in full-duplex mode.

Full-duplex mode is most commonly found in, and indeed only makes sense for, switches rather than hubs. It may be found in either 10 Mbit/s or 100 Mbit/s switch devices. Full-duplex mode may provide a throughput advantage under some circumstances; the degree of the advantage is application-dependent.

The PCI 10/100Base-TX and 100Base-FX/9000 cards support both half- and full-duplex operation.

Ensure that the speed, duplex mode, and autonegotiation of the associated switch are configured the same as on the PCI 10/100Base-TX card. If the switch supports autonegotiation on the ports connected to the cards, this should be enabled as explained in the section “Autonegotiation and Autosensing”.

To list the current speed and duplex mode of the PCI 10/100Base-TX/9000 card, use the -x option (NOTE: lowercase x) of the lanadmin command. Determine the speed and duplex mode of your hub or switch before performing manual configuration as follows: lanadmin -x ppa

To manually set the duplex mode of the interface, use the -X option of the lanadmin command as follows:

lanadmin -X mode ppa

where mode can be any one of the following strings (and the fd or hd are case-insensitive):

10fd = 10 full-duplex mode
10hd = 10 half-duplex mode

100fd = 100 full-duplex mode
100hd =100 half-duplex mode

and

lanadmin -X auto_on ppa (turns autonegotiation on)The ppa is the physical point of attachment. You can get the ppa from the output of the lanscan command.Example:

If the ppa of the 100Base-TX interface is 5, the command to set the card to 10Mbits/s and full-duplex mode would be:

lanadmin -X 10fd 5

After issuing the lanadmin -X, you must wait at least 11 seconds before attempting to use the specified network interface.If you want the Duplex Mode setting to be effective in all subsequent reboots, you must create an SD script and include the appropriate command in the/sbin/init.d directory so it gets executed on each reboot.

Manually configuring the speed or duplex setting of a switch port on some switches may disable that switch port from doing autonegotiation. Verify that both the card and the switch port are operating in the same speed and duplex mode as desired.

If you use manual configuration to change the card to a different speed and duplex mode, you may need to turn autonegotiation on first before the manual setting takes place.

	NOTE: Mismatches between the speed, autonegotiation, or duplex mode of the card and switch will cause incorrect operation.

Autonegotiation and Autosensing

Autonegotiation is a mechanism defined in the IEEE 802.3u specification whereby devices sharing a link segment can exchange information and automatically configure themselves to operate at the highest capability mode shared between them.

Autonegotiation is like a rotary switch that automatically switches to the correct technology such as 10Base-T or 100Base-TX or between half- and full-duplex modes. Once the highest performance common mode is determined, auto-negotiation passes control of the link to the appropriate technology, sets the appropriate duplex mode, and then becomes transparent until the link is broken.

Following is the IEEE 802.3u-defined hierarchy for resolving multiple common abilities for a 10/100Base-TX card. The PCI 10/100Base-TX/9000 product provides the means for interfacing various types of HP 9000 workstations to either a 10Base-T or 100Base-TX network. 100Base-TX is a subset of 100Base-T networking defined by the IEEE 802.3u-1995 standard. 100Base-TX provides 100 Mbit/s data transmission over category 5 unshielded twisted-par (UTP) cable. Two pairs of wires in the cable are usedone wire pair is for receiving data, and one wire pair is for transmitting data. The same card port that supports 100Base-TX operation can also support 10Base-T operation.

For example, if both devices on the link support 10Base-T (half duplex) and 100Base-TX (half duplex), autonegotiation at both ends will connect the 100Base-TX (half duplex) instead of the 10Base-T (half duplex).

Some Fast Ethernet devices on the market today such as hubs and switches do not support autonegotiation. Either the speed and duplex mode of the device are fixed (as is usually the case with hubs), or they are often manually configured at the desired speed and duplex (as is often the case for switches).

If the PCI 10/100Base-TX/9000 card is connected to a device, such as a switch, that is autonegotiating, the PCI card will autonegotiate with the device to mutually determine the highest possible speed and duplex settings between them.If the PCI 10/100Base-TX/9000 card is connected to a device that does not support autonegotiation or a device that has autonegotiation disabled, the PCI card will autosense the speed of the link and set itself accordingly. The duplex mode of the card will be set to half-duplex in this case. If you want the card to operate in full-duplex mode, you have to set it using the method described in "Manual Speed and Duplex Mode Configuration." The fiber card (100Base-FX/9000) does not support autonegotiation.

The PCI 10/100Base-TX card will sense when the connection between itself and a hub or switch on the other end of a link has been broken. If a connection is made to another (or the same) device, the autosensing process will be done again automatically. Autosensing is also done whenever the interface is reset.

What Happens During Card Initialization Sequence?

Following is an overview of the initialization sequence for the PCI 10/100Base-TX and 100Base-FX cards:

Initialization of a PCI 10/100Base-TX or 100Base-FX card happens during system bootup only, and it is driven by the btlan6 driver for the card.

Whenever initialization fails, it prints a message on the console identifying the failure. You can later retrieve initialization messages after the system is fully booted up by using the dmesg command.

Finally, the driver tries to establish a good data link between the card and the hub or switch.

The Link Status LED is for the RJ-45 connector only. The link LED is lit only when the RJ-45 connector on the card is connected properly to a 10/100 Mbit/s switch or hub.When the RJ-45 cable connection is used, the link LED must be lit to indicate proper functioning. If there is no RJ-45 cable connection, or if the cable connection is bad, or if the hub or switch is not compatible, that is, not 10Base-T or 100Base-TX capable, no LEDS will be lit. Also, a message indicating the detection of a bad cable connection is printed on the console as well as logged in NETTL logs.

The Link LED functions as follows:

The Activity LED flashes whenever the switch is sending link pulses. If the activity LED on the card is not blinking, then there may be a problem with the driver or the card. Contact HP.

Note: the RJ-45 connection operates at either 10 or 100 Mbits/s, but the BNC and AUI connections operate only at 10 Mbits/s.

Software Availability in Native Languages

The commands used with this product are the ones supported by the Native Language Support Catalog of HP-UX.

PCI 10/100Base-TX Card Specifications

Physical

Electrical

Environmental

Temperature
Degrees F = (1.8 x Degrees C) + 32

Electromagnetic

Cable Interfaces

Communications Standards

Hardware Regulatory Statements

This section contains hardware regulatory statements for the PCI 100Base-TX product (A3738A) and 100Base-FX product (A5172A) use in the United States, Canada, Japan, and the European community. Refer to your PCI 10/100Base-TX 9000 Quick Install card for product installation instructions.

FCC Statement (For U.S.A.)

Federal Communications Commission Radio Frequency Interference Statement

	WARNING! This device complies with Part 15 of the FCC rules. Operation is subject to the following two conditions: (1) This device may not cause harmful interference and (2) this device must accept any interference received, including interference that might cause undesired operation. This equipment has been tested and found to comply with the limits for a Class A digital device, pursuant to Part 15 of the FCC rules. These limits are designed to provide reasonable protection against harmful interference when the equipment is operated in a commercial environment. This equipment generates, uses and can radiate radio frequency energy, and, if not installed and used in accordance with the instruction manual, may cause harmful interference to radio communications. Operation of this equipment in a residential area is likely to cause interference, in which case the user at his own expense will be required to take whatever measures may be required to correct the interference. Hewlett-Packard's system certification tests were conducted with HP-supported peripheral devices and cables, such as those received with your system. Changes or modifications to this equipment not expressly approved by Hewlett-Packard could void the user's authority to operate the equipment.

EMI and LED Safety (European Community)

	NOTE: This is a class A product. In a domestic environment, this product may cause radio interference, in which case you may be required to take adequate measures.

LED Safety - European Union - Optical Transceiver (A5172A only)

	NOTE: This optical transceiver meets LED AEL Class 1 requirements per EN 60825-1:1994(+A11) and EN 60825-2:1994.

Canada

	WARNING! This Class A digital apparatus meets all requirements of the Canadian Interference-Causing Equipment Regulations. Cet appareil numérique de la classe A respecte toutes les exigences du règlement sur le matériel brouilleur du Canada.