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Conference 7.286::fddi

Title:FDDI - The Next Generation
Moderator:NETCAD::STEFANI
Created:Thu Apr 27 1989
Last Modified:Thu Jun 05 1997
Last Successful Update:Fri Jun 06 1997
Number of topics:2259
Total number of notes:8590

1510.0. "Help with config......" by CSC32::B_GOODWIN (MCI Mission Critical Support Team) Tue Nov 29 1994 19:26

My customer would like to know if the following configuration will work. 
The nodes are DECconcentrator 500's. Look at the port matrix table in the 
System Level Description, it appears that this should work. I tried setting 
this config up in my lab and it failed. Except for in my configuration the 
lower tier is DECconcentrator 900MX's, the top is DECconcentrator 500's.

The B port on DC3 and the A port on DC4 led status shows that they are in
Standby/Dual Homed. If I pull either M port connection on DC1 or DC2, the 
leds on DC3 B port and DC4 A port stay in the Standby/Dual Homed. 
Effectivly isolating the DC that the M port was pulled on. Is this normal 
behavour? My customer wants to put the lower tier 1km away from the 
upper tier and wants the lower tier Dual Homed to the upper tier, but
doesn't want to put 4 runs of fiber on diverse routes, because of cost and
the fact that they want to duplicate this at about 40 sites. 

                         Upper Tier
                    _____________________
                    | _________________ |
                    | |               | |
                    ----------        ----------
                   |A B       |      |A B       |
                   |   DC1    |      |    DC2   |
                   |M         |      |  M       |
                    ----------        ----------
                    | _________________ |
                    | |  Lower Tier   | |
                    ----------        ----------
                   |A B       |      |A B       |
                   |    DC3   |      |    DC4   |
                   | M    M   |      | M    M   |
                    ----------        ----------
                     |    |            |    |
                     |    | ------------    |       
                     |    --|-----------    |
                     |      |          |    |
                    ----------        ----------
                   | A      B |      | A    B   |
                   |  DECnis  |      |   Vax    |
                    ----------        ----------

Thanks for any help,
Brad




T.RTitleUserPersonal
Name
DateLines
1510.1NETCAD::STEFANILook Ma, I'm drinking my oatmeal!Wed Nov 30 1994 09:4442
    Brad,    
    
    I don't think your setup will work.  DC1 and DC2 are connected fine and
    the Upper Tier is a normal dual-ring configuration.  However, DC3 and
    DC4 are not being dual-homed properly.  I would change the layout to:
    
    
                         Upper Tier
                    _____________________
                    | _________________ |
                    | |               | |
                    ----------        ----------
                   |A B       |      |A B       |
                   |   DC1    |      |    DC2   |
                   |M M       |      |M M       |
                    ----------        ----------
                    | |_____________  | |
                    |              |  | |
                    | ________________| |
                    | | Lower Tier |    |
                    | |            |__  |
                    | |               | |
                    ----------        ----------
                   |A B       |      |A B       |
                   |    DC3   |      |    DC4   |
                   | M    M   |      | M    M   |
                    ----------        ----------
                     |    |            |    |
                     |    | ------------    |       
                     |    --|-----------    |
                     |      |          |    |
                    ----------        ----------
                   | A      B |      | A    B   |
                   |  DECnis  |      |   Vax    |
                    ----------        ----------
    
    
    I realize that the customer may want to limit the fiber strands going
    from the Lower Tier to the Upper Tier, but the above configuration
    should work and provide the fault tolerance they're looking for.
    
       - Larry
1510.2CSC32::B_GOODWINMCI Mission Critical Support TeamWed Nov 30 1994 11:238
Thanks Larry,

I was pretty sure my original config was wrong and I would have to configure it
the way you did. But the customer wanted to save running the two extra fiber
links, because he is running them in diverse routes to avoid having a possible
fiber cut on all four fiber links at the same time.

Brad
1510.3NETCAD::STEFANILook Ma, I'm drinking my oatmeal!Wed Nov 30 1994 11:5211
>>links, because he is running them in diverse routes to avoid having a possible
>>fiber cut on all four fiber links at the same time.
 
    That makes a lot of sense.  In our NetWare SFT III MSL dual-attach
    configurations, we recommend that each cable is placed in separate
    conduits.
    
    For your customer, I suggest at least running the two cables from DC1
    in one conduit and the two cables from DC2 in another.
    
       - Larry
1510.4another wayNETCAD::ARGOThu Dec 01 1994 17:0655
Hi Brad.


>The B port on DC3 and the A port on DC4 led status shows that they are in
>Standby/Dual Homed. If I pull either M port connection on DC1 or DC2, the 
>leds on DC3 B port and DC4 A port stay in the Standby/Dual Homed. 
>Effectivly isolating the DC that the M port was pulled on. Is this normal 
>behavour?

	What you have done is to present concentrators DC3 and DC4 with
	a tree connection (A or B to an M) and a peer connection
	(A to B).  The topology rules say to take the tree connection
	and reject the peer connection.  If you pull the DC3's A-M
	connection, DC4 is going to continue to reject the A-B connection
	because is it is still presented with a choice between a
	tree connection and a peer connection.


	If you ignore the religion about dual homing verses putting
	it in the dual ring, you can do something like the following
	to avoid running the extra cable.  It depends on where you
	think the network is most at risk.


                         Upper Tier
                                         
               +----+ _________________ +------------+
               |    | |               | |            |
               |    ----------        ----------     |
               |   |A B       |      |A B       |    |
               |   |   DC1    |      |    DC2   |    |
               |   |          |      |          |    |
               |    ----------        ----------     |
               |                                     |
               +------------------------+            |
                                        |            |
                    +-------------------|------------+
                    | +---------------+ |
                    | | Lower Tier    | |
                    ----------        ----------
                   |A B       |      |A B       |
                   |    DC3   |      |    DC4   |
                   | M    M   |      | M    M   |
                    ----------        ----------
                     |    |            |    |
                     |    | ------------    |       
                     |    --|-----------    |
                     |      |          |    |
                    ----------        ----------
                   | A      B |      | A    B   |
                   |  DECnis  |      |   Vax    |
                    ----------        ----------


Dennis