Server Products
Data Center Products including boards, integrated systems, Intel® Xeon® Processors, RAID Storage, and Intel® Xeon® Processors
4762 Discussions

Intel Modular Server System MFSYS25 and second Ethernet switch

idata
Employee
1,179 Views

Good day, I have opted to install a second Intel Gigabit Ethernet Switch AXXSW1GB in our Intel Modular Server System MFSYS25. The second switch is at present intended to provide additional ports, so it is linked to the primary switch using a patch cable. However I am concerned that this may not be ideal, as I have noticed several event log entries (info only) as follows:

Type: SNMP

 

Detailed Description: Link Down: External: Port 1 Array ( [ifIndex.1] => 1 [ifAdminStatus.1] => up [ifOperStatus.1] => down )

Type: SNMP

 

Detailed Description: Link Up: External: Port 1 has link and should now be active Array ( [ifIndex.1] => 1 [ifAdminStatus.1] => up [ifOperStatus.1] => up )

Type:

 

SNMP

 

Detailed Description:

 

Spanning Tree Port State Forwarding: {port} Array ( [rndErrorDesc.0] => %STP-W-PORTSTATUS: Ext.1: STP status Forwarding [rndErrorSeverity.0] => warning [rnd.57.2.8.1.0] => 1 [rnd.57.2.8.2.0] => 0 )

These are associated with "Switch 2", and may reoccur every minute for hours at a time. There do appear to be infrequent brief connectivity issues, but I am uncertain whether they are related to these events.

I have reviewed the common configurations document (http://www.intel.com/support/motherboards/server/sb/CS-031684.htm) and no mention is made of any special precautions while adding a second switch.

I would appreciate it if someone could confirm whether simply linking the two switches together is a supported configuration out-of-the-box, and if not, possibly provide a link or guidelines for the proper configuration.

Thanks in advance.

Regards,

Byron.

1 Reply
Edward_Z_Intel
Employee
296 Views

I don't think you should link the two switches with a cable.

A second Ethernet switch can connect servers to two separate physical networks without using VLANs, or connect servers to more than two separate networks using VLANs. A second switch can also provide redundant data paths in a network, when utilizing Spanning Tree or Rapid Spanning Tree protocols.

Neither scenario would need to connect both switches with a cable. See http://www.intel.com/support/motherboards/server/mfsys25/sb/CS-028603.htm http://www.intel.com/support/motherboards/server/mfsys25/sb/CS-028603.htm for more details.

Reply