The SolarisTM 9 Operating Environment (Solaris OE) is the foundation for the SunTM Open Net Environment (Sun ONE) and provides an architecture that is integrated and open for building and deploying Services on Demand. The services model of computing is being driven by the high growth in bandwidth, networks and digital devices. These services need to be reliable and be able to recover from a failure of a single network adapter. Sun's Network Multipathing Implementation Solaris OE IPMP is built right into the Solaris OE. Solaris OE IP Multipathing (IPMP), Sun's Network Multipathing implementation for the Solaris 9 OE, enables a server to have multiple network ports connected to the same subnet. Solaris OE IPMP software provides resilience from network adapter failure by detecting the failure or repair of a network adapter and switching the network address to and from the alternative adapter. Also, when more than one network adapter is functional, Solaris IPMP increases data throughput by spreading outbound packets across adapters.

Solaris IPMP requires little system administrator intervention. It works with Dynamic Reconfiguration (DR) software, and is managed using the existing network administration framework (e.g., the ifconfig command). With Solaris IPMP, there is no degradation in system or network performance when IPMP functions are not invoked, and failover functions are accomplished in a short timeframe.

Some of the capabilities Solaris IPMP provides are:

• Transference of Network Attributes: A failed network adapter can transfer network attributes, including IP addresses, logical interfaces and multicast memberships, to another network adapter connected to the same link layer.

• Offlining of a Network Adapter: Invokes transference of network attributes to another interface without the first interface failing. This allows proactive maintenance of the first interface.

• Transference of Static IP Address: Provides retention of an IP address when an interface fails due to an IPMP action and the failed interface has not been replaced before the reboot. This IP address is transferred to another network adapter in the IPMP interface group.

• Automated Dynamic Reconfiguration (ADR) Attachment of a Network Adapter: Enables the system to automatically handle newly added hardware (I/O, disks, memory or CPUs) without requiring the system to be taken offline. When a network adapter is reattached through ADR, the original IP address is transferred to the replaced network adapter and it is joined to the original IPMP interface group. This capability is exclusive to the Solaris OE platform.

Solaris IPMP requires:

• More than one physical interface connected to the same IP link
• Unique MAC addresses on each network interface
• A network adapter group name
• Test addresses on every network interface
• Data addresses on every network interface

Key feature highlights of Solaris 9 OE:

• Manages network communication failures transparently
• Ensures uninterrupted network availability
• Improves throughput via load balancing
• Recovers from single-point failures with network adapters

To learn more about network multipathing and the Solaris 9 OE, visit:

http://wwwsun.com/solaris [...read more...]

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Other articles in the Software section of Volume 52, Issue 3: Solaris OE IP Multipathing (IPMP) Data Sheet (this article) Focus on Availability in the Solaris 9 Operating Environment See all archived articles in the Software section.

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