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Using Broadcom Advanced Control Suite 3: Broadcom NetXtreme 57XX User Guide

Broadcom Advanced Control Suite 3 Overview

Starting Broadcom Advanced Control Suite 3

Using Broadcom Advanced Control Suite 3

Configuring Teaming

Broadcom Advanced Control Suite 3 Overview

Broadcom Advanced Control Suite 3 (BACS 3) is an integrated utility that provides useful information about each network adapter that is installed in your system. BACS 3 also enables you to perform detailed tests, diagnostics, and analyses on each adapter, as well as to view and modify property values and view traffic statistics for each adapter.

Broadcom Advanced Server Program (BASP), which runs within Broadcom Advanced Control Suite 3, is used to configure teams for load balancing, fault tolerance, and virtual local area networks (VLANs). BASP functionality is available only on systems that use at least one Broadcom network adapter.

Starting Broadcom Advanced Control Suite 3

In Control Panel, click Broadcom Control Suite 3.

Microsoft .NET Framework 2.0 includes the runtime and associated files needed to run BACS 3, and must be installed on your system in order for BACS 3 to operate. For information on the minimum and recommended .NET Framework versions for your operating system, see Table 1.

NOTES:

Using Broadcom Advanced Control Suite 3

Start BACS 3. Click the tab that provides the information of interest or from which to perform a desired test, diagnostic, analysis, or set adapter properties. To create a team, see Configuring Teaming.

Using the Interface

BACS 3 features a context-sensitive interface. When an item is selected in the Explorer View, such as an adapter, driver, team, or VLAN, the interface changes to display the information and options available for the selected item. Certain tabs, menu options, and device information are only available based on the types of devices installed or the item selected in the interface.

Two buttons at the bottom of the interface control what you want to manage: click the Device Management button to manage the connected devices, or click the Team Management button to create and manage teams.

Device Management

The Device Management pane lists the devices that can be viewed, analyzed, tested, or adjusted by BACS 3. When an item is selected in the Device Management pane, the tabs showing the information and options that are available for the item appear. Because the BACS 3 interface is context-sensitive, only the information that applies to the selected item can be viewed or adjusted.

Items in Device Management can be listed by type or by connection.

To list items in Device Management by type

A single hardware device may be using several different drivers, so Device Management breaks each item out into separate categories.

To list items in Device Management by connection

The Connection View lists the server and client devices in a parent/child hierarchy, which makes it easier to see the relationships between the adapters. Just as in the Device Management pane, selecting items in the Connection View shows the options available for that item.

Device Icons

The icon next to each device in the Device Management pane shows its status. An icon next to a device name that appears normal means the device is connected and working.

Team Management

The Team Management pane displays how network adapters have been grouped together to function as a team, or virtual LAN. The pane separates the adapters that have been grouped into a team from those that remain unassigned.

Team Management only becomes available when more than one Broadcom network adapters are installed and available to be grouped into a team.

To create or edit teams

Configuring BACS User Interface Options

Enabling/Disabling the BACS Tray Icon

BACS 3 places an icon in the Windows taskbar when the program is installed. Use the Options window to turn this icon on or off.

To enable or disable the BACS tray icon

  1. From the Tools menu, select Options.
  2. In the Options window, select General.
  3. Select or clear Enable Tray Icon (the option is enabled by default).
  4. Click OK.

Configuring BACS User Interface Appearance

Changing the Look and Feel

The appearance of the BACS 3 interface can be customized.

To change the interface appearance

  1. From the Tools menu, select Options.
  2. In the Options window, select Appearance.
  3. Choose the appearance settings. Click Apply to set changes. Click OK to set changes and close the Options window.

To reset the interface to the default appearance

  1. From the Tools menu, select Options.
  2. In the Options window, select General.
  3. Click Restore Default.
  4. Close and then restart BACS 3.

Viewing Vital Signs

The Vital Signs section of the Information tab has useful information about the network adapters that are installed in your system, such as the link status of the adapter and general network connectivity.

To view Vital Signs information for any installed network adapter, click the name of the adapter listed in the Device Management pane, then click the Information tab.

MAC Address
A physical MAC (media access control) address that is assigned to the adapter by the manufacturer. The physical address is never all 0s.
Permanent MAC Address
The unique hardware address assigned to the network adapter.
IP Address
The network address associated with the adapter. If the IP address is all 0s, the associated driver has not been bound with Internet Protocol (IP).
Link Status
The status of the network link.
Duplex
The adapter is operating in the indicated duplex mode.
Speed
The link speed of the adapter, in megabits per second.
Offload Capabilities
The offload capabilities supported by the adapter. This information is only available for Broadcom NetXtreme II adapters.
LiveLink IP Address
The network address of the LiveLink enabled adapter.
Local Connection
Identifies the module to which the blade server is attached.
BASP State
Information about the status of the BASP application. This information is displayed only when there is a team (see Configuring Teaming).

Viewing Driver Information

The Driver Information section of the Information tab displays data about the driver for the selected network adapter.

To view Driver Information for any installed network adapter, click the name of the adapter listed in the Device Management pane, then click the Information tab.

Driver Status
The status of the adapter driver.
Driver Name
The file name of the adapter driver.
Driver Version
The current version of the adapter driver.
Driver Date
The creation date of the adapter driver.

Viewing Resource Information

The Resources section of the Information tab displays information about connections and other essential functions for the selected network adapter.

To view Resources for any installed network adapter, click the name of the adapter listed in the Device Management pane, then click the Information tab.

Bus Type
The type of input/output (I/O) interconnect used by the adapter.
Slot No
The slot number on the system board occupied by the adapter. This item is not available for PCI Express type adapters.
Bus Speed (MHz)
The bus clock signal frequency used by the adapter. This item is not available for PCI Express type adapters.
Bus Width (bit)
The number of bits that the bus can transfer at a single time to and from the adapter. This item is not available for PCI Express type adapters.
Bus No
Indicates the number of the bus where the adapter is installed.
Device No
The number assigned to the adapter by the operating system.
Function No
The port number of the adapter. For a single-port adapter, the function number is 0. For a two-port adapter, the function number for the first port is 0, and the function number for the second port is 1.
Interrupt Request
The interrupt line number that is associated with the adapter. Valid numbers range from 2 to 25.
Memory Address
The memory mapped address that is assigned to the adapter. This value can never be 0.

Viewing Hardware Information

The Hardware section of the Information tab displays information about the hardware settings for the selected network adapter.

To view Hardware for any installed network adapter, click the name of the adapter listed in the Device Management pane, then click the Information tab.

ASIC Version
The chip version of the Broadcom adapter (this information is not available for adapters made by others).
Management Firmware
The firmware version installed on the system.
Vendor ID
The vendor ID.
Device ID
The adapter ID.
Subsystem Vendor ID
The subsystem vendor ID.
Subsystem ID
The subsystem ID.

Testing the Network

The Network Test option on the Diagnostics tab lets you verify IP network connectivity. This test verifies if the driver is installed correctly and tests connectivity to a gateway or other specified IP address on the same subnet.

The network test uses TCP/IP to send ICMP packets to remote systems, then waits for a response. If a gateway is configured, the test automatically sends packets to that system. If a gateway is not configured or if the gateway is unreachable, the test prompts for a destination IP address.

NOTE: The network test option is not available on adapters that are grouped into a team (see Configuring Teaming).

To run the network test

  1. Click the name of the adapter to test in the Device Management pane.
  2. Click the Diagnostics tab. If the Diagnostics tab is not visible, then from the View menu, select Navigate, then Device Management, and then Diagnostics.
  3. From the Select a test to run list, select Network Test. If the Network Test option is not available, then from the Context View tab on the right side of the window, select Diagnostics and then select Network Test.
  4. To change the destination IP address, select IP address to ping, then click the browse button (...). In the Network Test window, enter a Destination IP address, then click OK.
  5. Click Run.

The results of the network test are displayed in the Result field.

Running Diagnostic Tests

The Diagnostic Tests option on the Diagnostics tab lets you check the state of the physical components on a Broadcom network adapter. You can trigger the tests manually, or choose to have BACS 3 continuously perform them. If the test are performed continuously, then the number of passes and fails in the Status field for each test increments every time the tests are performed. For example, if a test is performed four times and there are no fails, the value in the Status field for that test is 4/0. However, if there were 3 passes and 1 fail, the value in the Status field is 3/1.

NOTES:

To run the diagnostic tests once

  1. Click the name of the adapter to test in the Device Management pane.
  2. Click the Diagnostics tab. If the Diagnostics tab is not visible, then from the View menu, select Navigate, then Device Management, and then Diagnostics.
  3. From the Select a test to run list, select Diagnostic Tests. If the Diagnostic Tests option is not available, then from the Context View tab on the right side of the window, select Diagnostics and then select Diagnostic Tests.
  4. Select the diagnostic tests you want to run. Click Select All to select all tests or Clear All to clear all test selections.
  5. Click Run.
  6. In the error message window that warns of the network connection being temporarily interrupted, click Yes. The results are displayed in the Status field for each test.

To run the diagnostic tests continuously

  1. Click the name of the adapter to test in the Device Management pane.
  2. Click the Diagnostics tab. If the Diagnostics tab is not visible, then from the View menu, select Navigate, then Device Management, and then Diagnostics.
  3. From the Select a test to run list, select Diagnostic Tests. If the Diagnostic Tests option is not available, then from the Context View tab on the right side of the window, select Diagnostics and then select Diagnostic Tests.
  4. Select the diagnostic tests you want to run. Click Select All to select all tests or Clear All to clear all test selections.
  5. Select Run Continuously.
  6. Click Run.
  7. In the error message window that warns of the network connection being temporarily interrupted, click Yes. The diagnostic tests will run continuously, and the Status field for each test displays the accumulated total of passes and failures.
  8. To stop the continuous testing, click Abort.



Control Registers
This test verifies the read and write capabilities of the network adapter registers by writing various values to the registers and verifying the results. The adapter driver uses these registers to perform network functions such as sending and receiving information. A test failure indicates that the adapter may not be working properly.
MII Registers
This test verifies the read and write capabilities of the registers of the physical layer (PHY). The physical layer is used to control the electrical signals on the wire and to configure network speeds such as 1000 Mbit/s.
EEPROM
This test verifies the content of the electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM) by reading a portion of the EEPROM and computing the checksum. The test fails if the computed checksum is different from the checksum stored in the EEPROM. An EEPROM image upgrade does not require a code change for this test.
Internal Memory
This test verifies that the internal memory of the adapter is functioning properly. The test writes patterned values to the memory and reads back the results. The test fails if an erroneous value is read back. The adapter cannot function if its internal memory is not functioning properly.
On-Chip CPU
This test verifies the operation of the internal CPUs in the adapter.
Interrupt
This test verifies that the Network Device Driver Interface Specification (NDIS) driver is able to receive interrupts from the adapter.
Loopback MAC and Loopback PHY
These tests verify that the NDIS driver is able to send packets to and receive packets from the adapter.
Test LED
This test causes all of the port LEDs to blink 5 times for the purpose of identifying the adapter.

Analyzing Cables

The Cable Analysis option on the Diagnostics tab lets you monitor the conditions of each wire pair in an Ethernet Category 5 cable connection within an Ethernet network. The analysis measures the cable quality and compares it against the IEEE 802.3ab specification for compliance.

NOTES:

To run a cable analysis

  1. Connect the cable to a port on a switch where the port is set to Auto and the Speed & Duplex driver settings are also set to Auto.
  2. Click the name of the adapter to test in the Device Management pane.
  3. Click the Diagnostics tab. If the Diagnostics tab is not visible, then from the View menu, select Navigate, then Device Management, and then Diagnostics.
  4. From the Select a test to run list, select Cable Analysis. If the Cable Analysis option is not available, then from the Context View tab on the right side of the window, select Diagnostics and then select Cable Analysis.
  5. Click Run.
  6. In the error message window that warns of the network connection being temporarily interrupted, click Yes.



Distance
The valid cable length in meters (except when the Noise result is returned).
Status
The result of the analysis for the indicated pair.
Link
The link connection speed and mode.
Status
The status after the test is run, either completed or failed.

There are several factors that could have an effect on the test results:

Setting Adapter Properties

Options on the Configurations tab allow you to view and change the values of the available properties of the selected adapter. The potentially available properties and their respective settings are described below.

NOTES:

To set adapter properties

  1. Click the name of the adapter in the Device Management pane.
  2. Click the Configurations tab. If the Configurations tab is not visible, then from the View menu, select Navigate, then Device Management, and then Configurations.
  3. From the Advanced section, select the property you want to set. If the Advanced section is not available, then from the Context View tab on the right side of the window, select Configurations and then select Advanced.
  4. To change the value of a property, select an item from the property's list or type a new value, as appropriate (selection options are different for different properties).
  5. Click Apply to confirm the changes to all properties. Click Reset to return the properties to their original values.



802.1p QOS
Enables quality of service, which is an Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineering (IEEE) specification that treats different types of network traffic diversely to ensure required levels or reliability and latency according to the type of traffic. This property is disabled by default. Unless the network infrastructure supports QoS, do not enable this property. Otherwise, problems may occur.
Ethernet@Wirespeed
Enables a Gigabit Ethernet adapter to establish a link at a lower speed when only two pairs of wires are available in the cabling plant. The default setting for this property is Enabled.
Flow Control
Enables or disables the receipt or transmission of PAUSE frames. PAUSE frames allow the network adapter and a switch to control the transmit rate. The side that is receiving the PAUSE frame momentarily stops transmitting.
IPv4 Checksum Offload
Normally, the checksum function is computed by the protocol stack. When you select one of the Checksum Offload property values (other than None), the checksum can be computed by the network adapter.
IPv4 Large Send Offload
Normally, the TCP segmentation is done by the protocol stack. When you enable the Large Send Offload property, the TCP segmentation can be done by the network adapter. The default setting for this property is Enabled. This property is only available for Broadcom NetXtreme II adapters.
Jumbo MTU
Enables the network adapter to transmit and receive oversized Ethernet frames that are greater than 1514 bytes, but less than or equal to 9000 bytes in length. This property requires the presence of a switch that is able to process jumbo frames. This property is only available for Broadcom NetXtreme II adapters.

Frame size is set at 1500 bytes by default. To increase the size of the received frames, raise the byte quantity in 500-byte increments.

LSO & Jumbo Frames
Enables the network adapter to transmit and receive oversized Ethernet frames that are greater than 1514 bytes, but less than 9000 bytes in length. This property requires the presence of a switch that is able to process Jumbo frames. This information is available for some Broadcom NetXtreme adapters.

Frame size is set at 1500 bytes by default by selecting the LSO Enabled, Jumbo Off option.

NOTE: Jumbo Frames and Large Send Offload (LSO) are mutually-exclusive properties.

Normally, the TCP segmentation is done by the protocol stack. When you enable the Large Send Offload (LSO) property, the TCP segmentation can be done by the network adapter.

Locally Administered Address
The Locally Administered Address is a user-defined MAC address that is used in place of the MAC address originally assigned to the network adapter. Every adapter in the network must have its own unique MAC address. This locally administered address consists of a 12-digit hexadecimal number.

The appropriate assigned ranges and exceptions for the locally administered address include the following:

Receive Side Scaling
Allows configuring network load balancing across multiple CPUs. The default setting for this property is Enabled.
Speed & Duplex
The Speed & Duplex property sets the connection speed and mode to that of the network. Note that Full-Duplex mode allows the adapter to transmit and receive network data simultaneously.

Speed & Duplex (SerDes)

Wake Up Capabilities
Enables the network adapter to wake up from a low-power mode when it receives a network wake-up frame. Two types of wake-up frames are possible: Magic Packet™ and Wake Up Frame. This property is only available for Broadcom NetXtreme adapters.
WOL Speed
Sets the speed at which the network adapter connects to the network while the network adapter is in Wake on LAN mode. By default, the WOL Speed property is set to Auto. This property is only available for Broadcom NetXtreme adapters.
Large Send Offload (IPv4)
Allows configuring LSO using version 1 of the IPv4 protocol. The default setting for this property is Enabled.
TCP/UDP Checksum Offload (IPv4)
Allows configuring checksum offload for the IPv4 protocol.
Priority & VLAN
Allows enabling both the prioritization of network traffic and VLAN tagging. VLAN tagging only occurs when the VLAN ID setting is configured with a value other than 0 (zero).
VLAN ID
Enables VLAN tagging and configures the VLAN ID when Priority & VLAN Enabled is selected as the Priority & VLAN setting. The range for the VLAN ID is 1 to 4094 and must match the VLAN tag value on the connected switch. A value of 0 (default) in this field disables VLAN tagging.

Risk Assessment of VLAN Tagging through the NDIS Miniport Driver

Broadcom's NDIS 6.0 miniport driver provides the means to allow a system containing a Broadcom adapter to connect to a tagged VLAN. On Windows XP systems, this support was only provided through the use of an intermediate driver (e.g., Broadcom Advanced Server Program - BASP). Unlike BASP, however, the NDIS 6 driver's support for VLAN participation is only for a single VLAN ID.

Also unlike BASP, the NDIS 6.0 driver only provides VLAN tagging of the outbound packet, but does not provide filtering of incoming packets based on VLAN ID membership. This is the default behavior of all miniport drivers. While the lack of filtering packets based on VLAN membership may present a security issue, the following provides a risk assessment based on this driver limitation for an IPv4 network:

A properly configured network that has multiple VLANs should maintain separate IP segments for each VLAN. This is necessary since outbound traffic relies on the routing table to identify which adapter (virtual or physical) to pass traffic through and does not determine which adapter based on VLAN membership.

Since support for VLAN tagging on Broadcom's NDIS 6.0 driver is limited to transmit (Tx) traffic only, there is a risk of inbound traffic (Rx) from a different VLAN being passed up to the operating system. However, based on the premise of a properly configured network above, the IP segmentation and/or the switch VLAN configuration may provide additional filtration to limit the risk.

In a back-to-back connection scenario, two computers on the same IP segment may be able to communicate regardless of their VLAN configuration since no filtration of VLAN membership is occurring. However, this scenario assumes that the security may already be breached since this connection type is not typical in a VLAN environment.

If the risk above is not desirable and filtering of VLAN ID membership is required, then support through an intermediate driver would be necessary.

Interrupt Moderation
Enables adaptive interrupt coalescing, which limits the rate of interrupt to the CPU during packet transmission and packet reception. The disabled option allows one interrupt for every packet transmission and packet reception.
Number of Receive Descriptors
The number of receive descriptors with options of Default, Minimum, and Maximum. Receive descriptors are data segments that allow the network adapter to allocate receive packets to memory.
Number of Transmit Descriptors
The number of transmit descriptors with value options from 100 to 600 with 200 being the default value. Transmit descriptors are data segments that allow the network adapter to monitor transmit packets in the system memory.
RSS Queues
Allows configuring RSS queues from 1 to 4. Options are RSS 1 Queue, RSS 2 Queue, and RSS 4 Queue.

Viewing Statistics

The information provided on the Statistics tab allows you to view traffic statistics for both Broadcom network adapters and network adapters made by others. Statistical information and coverage are more comprehensive for Broadcom adapters.

To view Statistics information for any installed network adapter, click the name of the adapter listed in the Device Management pane, then click the Statistics tab.

Click Refresh to get the most recent values for each statistic. Click Reset to change all values to zero.

NOTES:

General Statistics

Frames Tx OK
A count of the frames that were successfully transmitted. This counter is incremented when the transmit status is reported as Transmit OK.
Frames Rx OK
A count of the frames that were successfully received. This does not include frames received with frame-too-long, frame check sequence (FCS), length, or alignment errors, nor frames lost due to internal MAC sublayer errors. This counter is incremented when the receive status is reported as Receive OK.
Directed Frames Tx
A count of directed data frames that were successfully transmitted.
Multicast Frames Tx
A count of frames that were successfully transmitted (as indicated by the status value Transmit OK) to a group destination address other than a broadcast address.
Broadcast Frames Tx
A count of frames that were successfully transmitted (as indicated by the transmit status Transmit OK) to the broadcast address. Frames transmitted to multicast addresses are not broadcast frames and are excluded.
Directed Frames Rx
A count of directed data frames that were successfully received.
Multicast Frames Rx
A count of frames that were successfully received and are directed to an active nonbroadcast group address. This does not include frames received with frame-too-long, FCS, length, or alignment errors, nor frames lost because of internal MAC sublayer errors. This counter is incremented as indicated by the Receive OK status.
Broadcast Frames Rx
A count of frames that were successfully received and are directed to a broadcast group address. This count does not include frames received with frame-too-long, FCS, length, or alignment errors, nor frames lost because of internal MAC sublayer errors. This counter is incremented as indicated by the Receive OK status.
Frames Rx with CRC Error
The number of frames received with CRC errors.

IEEE 802.3 Statistics

Frames Rx with Alignment Error
A count of the frames that were not an integral number of octets in length and do not pass the FCS check. This counter is incremented when the receive status is reported as Alignment Error.
Frames Tx with one Collision
A count of the frames that were involved in a single collision and were subsequently transmitted successfully. This counter is incremented when the result of a transmission is reported as Transmit OK, and the attempt value is 2.
Frames Tx with more than one Collision
A count of the frames that were involved in more than one collision and were subsequently transmitted successfully. This counter is incremented when the transmit status is reported as Transmit OK, and the value of the attempts variable is greater than 2 and less than or equal to the attempt limit.
Frames Tx after Deferral
A count of the frames that were delayed being transmitted on the first attempt because the medium was busy. The frames involved in any collision are not counted.

Custom Statistics

NOTE: Custom statistics are available only for an enabled Broadcom network adapter.

Out of Recv. Buffer
The number of times the adapter ran out of Receive Buffer Descriptors. This information is only available for Broadcom NetXtreme II adapters.
Frames size less than 64-byte with bad FCS
The number of frames with a size less than 64 bytes with bad FCS.
MAC Rx w/ Pause Command and Length = 0
MAC control frames with the pause command and a length equal to 0.
MAC Rx w/ Pause Command and Length greater than 0
MAC control frames with the pause command and a length greater than 0.
MAC Rx w/ no Pause Command
MAC control frames with no pause command.
MAC Sent X-on
MAC Transmit with X-on was on.
MAC Sent X-off
MAC Transmit with X-on was off.
Large Send Offload Transmit Requests
The number of times the adapter was requested to transmit a packet performing TCP segmentation.
Total Offload TCP Connections
The total number of offloaded TCP connections.

Configuring Teaming

The teaming function allows you to group any available network adapters together to function as a team. Teaming is a method of creating a virtual NIC (a group of multiple adapters that functions as a single adapter). The benefit of this approach is that it enables load balancing and failover. Teaming is done through the Broadcom Advanced Server Program (BASP) software. For a comprehensive description of the technology and implementation considerations of the teaming software, refer to the "Broadcom Gigabit Ethernet Teaming Services" section of your Broadcom network adapter user guide.

Teaming can be accomplished by either of the following methods:

Team Types

You can create four types of load balance teams:

Smart Load Balance and Failover

In this type of team, a standby member handles the traffic if all of the load balance members fail (a failover event). All load balance members have to fail before the standby member takes over. When one or more of the load balance members is restored (fallback), the restored team member(s) resumes the handling of the traffic. The LiveLink feature is supported for this type of team.

Link Aggregation (802.3ad)

In this type of team, you can dynamically configure the network adapters that have been selected to participate in a given team. If the link partner is not correctly configured for IEEE 802.3ad link configuration, errors are detected and noted. All adapters in the team are configured to receive packets for the same MAC address. The outbound load balancing scheme is determined by the BASP driver. The link partner of the team determines the load balancing scheme for inbound packets. In this mode, at least one of the link partners must be in active mode.

Generic Trunking (FEC/GEC)/802.3ad-Draft Static

This type of team is very similar to the link aggregation type, in that all adapters in the team must be configured to receive packets for the same MAC address. This mode does not provide link aggregation control protocol (LACP) or marker protocol support. This mode supports a variety of environments where the link partners are statically configured to support a proprietary trunking mechanism. Trunking supports load balancing and failover for both outbound and inbound traffic.

SLB (Auto-Fallback Disable)

This team is identical to Smart Load Balance and Failover, with the following exception: when the standby member is active, if a primary member comes back online, the team continues using the standby member rather than switching back to the primary member. This type of team is supported only for situations in which the network cable is disconnected and reconnected to the network adapter. It is not supported for situations in which the adapter is removed/installed through Device Manager or Hot-Plug PCI. If any primary adapter assigned to a team is disabled, the team functions as a Smart Load Balancing and Failover type of team in which auto-fallback occurs. The LiveLink feature is supported for this type of team.

Standby Team Member and Auto-Fallback Disable Mode

You can designate one team member in an SLB type of team to be the standby member. The standby member does not actively send and receive normal network traffic while other adapters on the team are active. If all of the active adapters on the team fail or are disconnected, the standby member takes over the handling of the network activities.

In Auto-Fallback Disable mode, if a load balance member returns on line, the team continues using the standby member rather than switching back to using the load balance member. Consequently, the adapter that was initially designated a load balance member remains in an inactive state and becomes the new standby member.

LiveLink

LiveLink is a feature of BASP that is available for the Smart Load Balancing (SLB) and SLB (Auto-Fallback Disable) type of teaming. The purpose of LiveLink is to detect link loss beyond the switch and to route traffic only through team members that have a live link.

Using the Broadcom Teaming Wizard

You can use the Broadcom Teaming Wizard to create a team, configure an existing team if a team has already been created, or create a VLAN.

  1. Click the Team Management button at the bottom of the BACS 3 window, or from the View menu, select Navigate, then Team Management.
  2. Click Teams at the top of the Team Management pane, or select one of the listed adapters.
  3. Create or edit a team:
    • To create a new team, select Create a Team from the Team menu, or right-click one of the devices in the "Unassigned Adapters" section and select Create a Team. This option is not available if there are no devices listed in the "Unassigned Adapters" sections, which means all adapters are already assigned to teams.



    • To configure an existing team, select Edit Team from the Team menu, or right-click one of the teams in the list and select Edit Team. This option is only available if a team has already been created and is listed in the Team Management pane.



      • NOTE: If you prefer to work without the wizard for now, click Expert Mode. If you want to always use Expert Mode to create a team, select Default to Expert Mode on next start. See Using Expert Mode.

  4. To continue using the wizard, click Next.



  5. Type the team name and then click Next. If you want to review or change any of your settings, click Back. Click Cancel to discard your settings and exit the wizard.

    6. NOTE: The team name cannot exceed 39 characters, cannot begin with spaces, and cannot contain any of the following characters: & \ / : * ? < > |



  6. Select the type of team you want to create. If the team type is an SLB type team, click Next. If the team type is not an SLB type team, then a dialog box appears. Verify that the network switch connected to the team members is configured correctly for the team type, click OK, and continue.



  7. From the Available Adapters list, click the adapter you want to add to the team and then click Add. Remove team members from the Team Members list by clicking the adapter and then clicking Remove. Click Next.

    8. NOTE: There must be at least one Broadcom network adapter assigned to the team.

    The TCP Offload Engine (TOE), Large Send Offload (LSO) and Checksum Offload (CO) columns indicate if the TOE, LSO, and/or the CO properties are supported for the adapter. The TOE, LSO, and CO properties are enabled for a team only when all of the members support and are configured for the feature. If this is the case, then the team offload capabilities appear on the bottom of the screen.

    NOTE: Adding a network adapter to a team where its driver is disabled may negatively affect the offloading capabilities of the team. This may have an impact on the team's performance. Therefore, it is recommended that only driver-enabled network adapters be added as members to a team.



  8. If you want to designate one of the adapters as a standby member (optional), select Use the following member as a standby member, then choose the standby member from the list of adapters.
  9. The Auto-Fallback Disable mode feature allows the team to continue using the standby member rather than switching back to the primary member if the primary member comes back online. To enable this feature, select Enable Auto-Fallback Disable mode. Click Next.



  10. If you want to configure LiveLink, select Yes, otherwise select No, then click Next.



  11. Select the probe interval (the number of seconds between each retransmission of a link packet to the probe target) and the maximum number of probe retries (the number of consecutively missed responses from a probe target before a failover is triggered).
  12. Set the Probe VLAN ID to allow for connectivity with probe targets residing on a tagged VLAN. The number set must match the VLAN ID of the probe targets as well as the port(s) on the switch to which the team is connected.

    13. NOTE: Each LiveLink enabled team can only communicate with Probe Targets on a single VLAN. Also, VLAN ID 0 is equivalent to an untagged network. If the Probe VLAN ID is set to a value other than 0, then a VLAN must be created with an identical VLAN tag value (see Step 18.).

  13. Click the probe target at the top of the list, click Edit Target IP Address, type the target IP address in the IP Address box for one or all probe targets, and then click OK. Click Next.

    14. NOTE: Only the first probe target is required. You can specify up to three additional probe targets to serve as backups by assigning IP addresses to the other probe targets.



  14. Select a listed team member, click Edit Member IP Address, and then type the member IP address in the IP Address box. Repeat for all listed team members and then click OK. Click Next.

    15. NOTE: All of the member IP addresses must be in the same subnet as the subnet of the probe targets.



  15. If you want to create a VLAN on the team, select Add VLAN, or if you want to change the settings of an existing VLAN, select Edit VLAN, then click Next. If you do not want to create or edit a VLAN, select Skip Manage VLAN, then click Next, and continue with the wizard from the Finish screen (see Step 20. of this procedure).

    16. VLANs enable you to add multiple virtual adapters that are on different subnets. The benefit of this is that your system can have one network adapter that can belong to multiple subnets.

    NOTE: VLANs can only be created when all team members are Broadcom adapters.



  16. Type the VLAN name and then click Next.

    17. NOTE: The team name cannot exceed 39 characters, cannot begin with spaces, and cannot contain any of the following characters: & \ / : * ? < > |



  17. To tag the VLAN, select Tagged and then click Next. Otherwise, click Untagged, click Next, and continue with the wizard to add additional VLANs (see Step 19. of this procedure).



  18. Type the VLAN tag value and then click Next. The value must be between 1 and 4094.



  19. Select Yes to add or manage another VLAN and then click Next. Repeat until you do not want to add or manage any additional VLANs.

    20. NOTE: You can define up to 64 VLANs per team (63 VLANs that are tagged and 1 VLAN that is not tagged). Adding several VLANS may slow down the reaction time of the Windows interface due to memory and processor time usage for each VLAN. The degree to which Windows performance may suffer depends on system configuration.



  20. To apply and commit the changes to the team, select Commit changes to system and Exit the wizard. To apply your changes but continue using the wizard, select Save changes and continue to manage more teams. Click Finish.



    21. NOTE: At any point in the Broadcom Teaming Wizard procedure, click Preview to get a visual representation of what the team will look like before committing any changes.



  21. Click the team name in the Team Management pane to view the team's properties in the Information tab, transfer and receive data in the Statistics tab, and team customization options in the Configurations tab.



Using Expert Mode

Use Expert Mode to create a team, modify a team, add a VLAN, and configure LiveLink for a Smart Load Balance and Failover and SLB (Auto-Fallback Disable) team. To create a team using the wizard, see Using the Broadcom Teaming Wizard.

To set the default Teaming Mode, select Options from the Tools menu. In the Options window, click the General tab, then select Expert Mode or Wizard Mode (the default is Wizard Mode).

Creating a Team

NOTE: Enabling Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) is not recommended for members of an SLB type of team.

  1. Click the Team Management button at the bottom of the BACS 3 window, or from the View menu, select Navigate, then Team Management.
  2. Click Teams at the top of the Team Management pane, or select one of the listed devices in the "Unassigned Adapters" section.
  3. From the Team menu, select Create a Team, or right-click one of the devices in the "Unassigned Adapters" section and select Create a Team. This option is not available if there are no devices listed in the "Unassigned Adapters" sections, which means all adapters are already assigned to teams.



  4. Click Expert Mode.

    5. NOTE: If you want to always use Expert Mode to create a team, click Default to Expert Mode on next start.



  5. Click the Create Team tab.

    6. NOTE: The Create Team tab appears only if there are teamable adapters available.

  6. Click the Team Name field to enter a team name.
  7. Click the Team Type field to select a team type.
  8. Click Manage Members at the top of the window.



  9. Assign any available adapter or adapters to the team by moving the adapter from the Available Adapters list to the Load Balance Members list. There must be at least one adapter in the Load Balance Members list.
  10. You can assign any other available adapter to be a standby member by selecting it from the Standby Member list.

    11. NOTE: There must be at least one Broadcom network adapter assigned to the team.

    The TCP Offload Engine (TOE), Large Send Offload (LSO), and Checksum Offload (CO) columns indicate if the TOE, LSO, and/or the CO properties are supported (Y) or not supported (N) for the adapter. The TOE, LSO, and CO properties are enabled for a team only when all of the members support and are configured for the feature. If this is the case, then the team offload capabilities appear on the bottom of the screen.

    NOTE: Adding a network adapter to a team where its driver is disabled may negatively affect the offloading capabilities of the team. This may have an impact on the team's performance. Therefore, it is recommended that only driver-enabled network adapters be added as members to a team.

  11. Click OK to accept your changes to the team members.
  12. Click Create to save the team information.
  13. Repeat steps 6. through 12. to define additional teams. As teams are defined, they can be selected from the team list, but they have not yet been created. Click the Preview tab to view the team structure before applying the changes.
  14. Click Apply/Exit to create all the teams you have defined and exit the Manage Teams window.
  15. Click Yes when the message is displayed indicating that the network connection will be temporarily interrupted.

    16. NOTES:

    • The team name cannot exceed 39 characters, cannot begin with spaces, and cannot contain any of the following characters: & \ / : * ? < > |
    • Team names must be unique. If you attempt to use a team name more than once, an error message is displayed indicating that the name already exists.
    • The maximum number of team members is 8.
    • When team configuration has been correctly performed, a virtual team adapter driver is created for each configured team.
    • If you disable a virtual team and later want to reenable it, you must first disable and reenable all team members before you reenable the virtual team.
    • When you create Generic Trunking and Link Aggregation teams, you cannot designate a standby member. Standby members work only with Smart Load Balancing and Failover and SLB (Auto-Fallback Disable) types of teams.
    • For an SLB (Auto-Fallback Disable) team, to restore traffic to the load balance members from the standby member, click the Fallback button on the Team Properties tab.
    • When configuring an SLB team, although connecting team members to a hub is supported for testing, it is recommended to connect team members to a switch.
    • Not all network adapters made by others are supported or fully certified for teaming.
  16. Configure the team IP address.
    1. From Control Panel, double-click Network Connections.
    2. Right-click the name of the team to be configured, and then click Properties.
    3. On the General tab, click Internet Protocol (TCP/IP), and then click Properties.
    4. Configure the IP address and any other necessary TCP/IP configuration for the team, and then click OK when finished.
Modifying a Team

After you have created a team, you can modify the team in the following ways:

To modify a team

  1. Click the Team Management button at the bottom of the BACS 3 window, or from the View menu, select Navigate, then Team Management.
  2. Select one of the listed teams.
  3. From the Team menu, click Edit Team, or right-click one of the teams in the list and select Edit Team. This option is only available if a team has already been created and is listed in the Team Management pane.



  4. The wizard Welcome screen appears. Click Next to continue modifying a team using the wizard or click Expert Mode to work in Expert Mode.

    5. NOTE: The Edit Team tab in Expert Mode appears only if there are teams configured on the system.

  5. Click the Edit Team tab.



  6. Make the desired changes, and then click Update. The changes have not yet been applied; click the Preview tab to view the updated team structure before applying the changes.
  7. Click Apply/Exit to apply the updates and exit the Manage Teams window.
  8. Click Yes when the message is displayed indicating that the network connection will be temporarily interrupted.
Adding a VLAN

You can add virtual LANs (VLANs) to a team. This enables you to add multiple virtual adapters that are on different subnets. The benefit of this is that your system can have one network adapter that can belong to multiple subnets. With a VLAN, you can couple the functionality of load balancing for the load balance members, and you can employ a failover adapter.

You can define up to 64 VLANs per team (63 VLANs that are tagged and 1 VLAN that is not tagged). VLANs can only be created when all teams members are Broadcom adapters. If you try to create a VLAN with a non-Broadcom adapter, an error message is displayed.

To configure a team with a VLAN

  1. Click the Team Management button at the bottom of the BACS 3 window, or from the View menu, select Navigate, then Team Management.
  2. Select one of the listed teams.
  3. From the Teams menu, select Add VLAN.
  4. The Welcome screen appears.
  5. Click Expert Mode.
  6. On the Create Team tab of the Manage Teams window, click Manage VLAN(s).
  7. Type the VLAN name, then select the type and ID.
  8. Click Create to save the VLAN information. As VLANs are defined, they can be selected from the Team Name list, but they have not yet been created.
  9. Continue this process until all VLANs are defined, then click OK to create them.



  10. Click Yes when the message is displayed indicating that the network connection will be temporarily interrupted.

    11. NOTE: To maintain optimum adapter performance, your system should have 64 MB of system memory for each of the eight VLANs created per adapter.

Viewing VLAN Properties and Statistics and Running VLAN Tests

To view VLAN properties and statistics and to run VLAN tests

  1. Click the Team Management button at the bottom of the BACS 3 window, or from the View menu, select Navigate, then Team Management.
  2. Select one of the listed VLANs.
  3. Click the Information tab to view the properties of the VLAN adapter.
  4. Click the Statistics tab to view the statistics for the VLAN adapter.
  5. Click the Diagnostics tab to run a network test on the VLAN adapter.
Deleting a VLAN

The procedure below applies when you are in Expert Mode.

To delete a VLAN

  1. Click the Team Management button at the bottom of the BACS 3 window, or from the View menu, select Navigate, then Team Management.
  2. Select the VLAN to delete.
  3. From the Teams menu, select Remove VLAN.
  4. Click Apply.
  5. Click Yes when the message is displayed indicating that the network connection will be temporarily interrupted.

    6. NOTE: If you delete a team, any VLANs configured for that team are also deleted.

Configuring LiveLink for a Smart Load Balancing and Failover and SLB (Auto-Fallback Disable) Team

LiveLink is a feature of BASP that is available for the Smart Load Balancing (SLB) and SLB (Auto-Fallback Disable) type of teaming. The purpose of LiveLink is to detect link loss beyond the switch and to route traffic only through team members that have a live link.

Read the following notes before you attempt to configure LiveLink.

NOTES:

To configure LiveLink

  1. Click the Team Management button at the bottom of the BACS 3 window, or from the View menu, select Navigate, then Team Management.
  2. Select the Smart Load Balance and Failover or SLB (Auto-Fallback Disable) team.
  3. From the Teams menu, select Edit Team.
  4. Click Expert Mode (to configure LiveLink using the Teaming Wizard, see Using the Broadcom Teaming Wizard).
  5. In the Manage Teams window, click the Edit Team tab.
  6. Select Enable LiveLink. The LiveLink Configuration options appear below.
  7. It is recommended to accept the default values for Probe interval (the number of seconds between each retransmission of a link packet to the probe target) and Probe maximum retries (the number of consecutively missed responses from a probe target before a failover is triggered). To specify different values, click the desired probe interval in the Probe interval (seconds) list and click the desired maximum number of probe retries in the Probe maximum retries list.
  8. Set the Probe VLAN ID to correspond with the VLAN where the probe target(s) resides. This will apply the appropriate VLAN tag to the link packet based on the shared configuration of the attached switch port(s).

    9. NOTE: Each LiveLink enabled team can only communicate with Probe Targets on a single VLAN. Also, VLAN ID 0 is equivalent to an untagged network.

  9. Select Probe Target 1 and type the target IP address for one or all probe targets.

    10. NOTE: Only the first probe target is required. You can specify up to 3 additional probe targets to serve as backups by assigning IP addresses to the other probe targets.

  10. Select one of the listed team members and type the member IP address.

    11. NOTE: All of the member IP addresses must be in the same subnet as the probe targets.

  11. Click Update. Repeat these steps for each of the other listed team members.
  12. Click Apply/Exit.



Saving and Restoring a Configuration

To save a configuration

  1. From the File menu, select Team Save As.
  2. Type the path and file name of the new configuration file, and then click Save (a .bcg extension is added).

    3. The configuration file is a text file that can be viewed by any text editor. The file contains information about both the adapter and the team configuration.

To restore a configuration

  1. From the File menu, select Team Restore.
  2. Click the name of the file to be restored, and then click Open.

    3. NOTE: If necessary, go to the folder where the file is located.

  3. Click Apply.
  4. Click Yes when the message is displayed indicating that the network connection will be temporarily interrupted.
  5. If a configuration is already loaded, a message is displayed that asks if you want to save your current configuration. Click Yes to save the current configuration. Otherwise, the configuration data that is currently loaded is lost.

Viewing BASP Statistics

The Statistics section shows performance information about the network adapters that are on a team.

To view BASP Statistics information for any team member adapter or the team as a whole, click the name of the adapter or team listed in the Team Management pane, then click the Statistics tab.

Click Refresh to get the most recent values for each statistic. Click Reset to change all values to zero.

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