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Conference netcad::hub_mgnt

Title:	DEChub/HUBwatch/PROBEwatch CONFERENCE
Notice:	Firmware -2, Doc -3, Power -4, HW kits -5, firm load -6&7
Moderator:	NETCAD::COLELLADT

Created:	Wed Nov 13 1991
Last Modified:	Fri Jun 06 1997
Last Successful Update:	Fri Jun 06 1997
Number of topics:	4455
Total number of notes:	16761

1166.0. "Some notes on a New HUBwatch installation" by MSDOA::REED (John Reed @CBO, DTN:367-6463, KB4FFE, SouthEast) Mon Jun 27 1994 17:24

    Hello;
    
    I have several DEChub900s, with many DC900MX, with Alpha's on most "M" 
    ports, and two DECBridge900MX connecting to the local Ethernets, where 
    I have a VAXstation, running HUBwatch v2, which I had to upgrade.
    
    I upgraded the Firmware in the Hub MAM, and the DECConcentrator.  The
    Bridges were already up-to-date, according to the release notes shipped
    with HubWatch030 for VMS.  
    
    I had several "events" which confused me.   First, I used nduPlus as
    the download method.  I went to the console port of each DEChub, and
    gave the MAM an IP address, and told it to use slot 1 (A
    DECconcentrator) as the Agent PMD.  I upgraded the MAM successfully.  I
    then tried the DECconcentrator in slot 1, but could not upgrade it.  I
    tried the DECconcentrator in slot 2,3,4 and those worked.   I had to
    assign the MAM agent address to another slot (slot 2) in order to
    upgrade the module in slot #1.   I did not find this restriction
    documented in the NDUplus release notes, nor the DEChub900, nor
    DECconcentrator manuals.  
    
    I also found that I could only upgrade one module at a time.  when I
    tried to upgrade two cards in the same hub simultaneously, it would
    crash both installations.
    
    When I did get all of the modules upgraded I ran Hubwatch 030.  It
    looked nice, and I was able to communicate with all of the modules,
    except the DECbridge 900MXs.  Whenever I clicked on a DECbridge
    module, Hubwatch would crash dump.   I entered the DECbridge 900 module
    into the Community tables, and used the  "make current" option (giving
    me a picture of just a DECbridge alone without a hub) and I could
    manage the DECbridge nicely.  Why could I not click on the DECbridge
    module from a full hub view ?   All of the modules in each hub shared
    the same community name for read-write.  All shared the same subnet
    class of ip addresses 192.68.201.xxx.   
    
    I could not figure out how to make the DECconcentrators create a dual
    ring through the backplane.  I followed the instructions under the HELP
    windows, and clicked on the module, then pushed the configuration
    picture (which showed the internal connection path).  I got the
    building block icons, and choose "A on front, and B on backplane". 
    Then the next module, I chose "both A&B on Backplane", and the last
    module, I chose "A on back, and B on the front".  At that instant, I
    lost all communication with my hub.  The FDDI ring wrapped, and I had
    no path to communicate with the hub.  (I was not managing the hub from
    a node on one of the local cards, I was on a different hub).
    
    Now, I couldn't get into the hub, to arrange the internal busses.  I
    patched around, and got onto one of the concentrators in wrap-mode.  I
    used the "LAN interconnection" pulldown, and created three FDDI
    networks on the backplane.  I saw that each DECconcentrator had a
    single purple connection icon numbered "1".  I took the first module's
    "1" port (B), and connected it to my first FDDI LAN #1.  I took the last
    module's "1" port (a), and connected it to my third FDDI LAN #3.  But I
    did not know how to get the middle concentrator to connect between
    Lans, because it only had one leg available to me.   I had to give up,
    and use front panel jumpers to create my dual ring of concentrators.
    
    Any suggestions?  I am sure I was forgetting a step somewhere...
    
    JR

T.R	Title	User	Personal Name	Date	Lines
1166.1		NACAD::SLAWRENCE		`Tue Jun 28 1994 11:21`	10
	[that was quite a lot... deep breath... :-) ] I can respond to a few of your points. Yes - you can only run one upgrade at a time through the hub. This is because the entire image is loaded first to the hub and then sent to the module, and there is not enough buffer space for more than one.
1166.2	some possibilities	NACAD2::HAROKOPUS		`Tue Jun 28 1994 11:31`	16
	Did you change the read-write community name of the hub manager? If so you need to reset the hub manager with current settings to propagate the community name to the modules. You also need to restart HUBwatch. We have seen crashes on the DECbridge 900MX when it has stale agent information. As far as your FDDI configuration, I'm a little confused. If you want to put all of the modules into a dual ring then why are you connecting them to different FDDI LANs in the backplane or am I misunderstanding something? Regards, Bob
1166.3	Worked for me.	CGOS01::DMARLOWE	Have you been HUBbed lately?	`Wed Jun 29 1994 03:11`	20
	> I could not figure out how to make the DECconcentrators create a dual > ring through the backplane. I followed the instructions under the HELP > windows, and clicked on the module, then pushed the configuration > picture (which showed the internal connection path). I got the > building block icons, and choose "A on front, and B on backplane". > Then the next module, I chose "both A&B on Backplane", and the last > module, I chose "A on back, and B on the front". At that instant, I > lost all communication with my hub. The FDDI ring wrapped, and I had > no path to communicate with the hub. (I was not managing the hub from > a node on one of the local cards, I was on a different hub). As far as the A & B port selection, it looks ok. Create a (one) FDDI segment and then under the LAN INTERCONNECT drag port 1 from each module down to the FDDI and release. The MAM will sort out the A's and B's to make it operational. Just make sure that the module suppling IP services is either module that has a front panel FDDI connection, A or B. dave
1166.4	Is it that simple?	MSDOA::REED	John Reed @CBO, DTN:367-6463, KB4FFE, SouthEast	`Wed Jun 29 1994 18:45`	46
	RE .2 .2> As far as your FDDI configuration, I'm a little confused. If .2> you want to put all of the modules into a dual ring then why .2> are you connecting them to different FDDI LANs in the backplane or .2> am I misunderstanding something? This may be my trouble. I was under the impression that all FDDI connections on the backplane were point-to-point links. And that I needed to create an FDDI LAN for each "connection". I had four FDDI concentrators in one hub, and no other modules. SO, I created three (3) FDDI LANS on the backplane. I called them: FDDI-INT-1/2 FDDI-INT-2/3 FDDI-INT-3/4 I figured that I needed to build the following block diagram: SITE FDDI IN =====A M M M M M M M M M M M M M M M M M M M M M M B========== xxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxx SITE x con#1 x x con#2 x x con#3 x x con#4 x RING xxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxx OUT (backplane) B===A B===A B===A In my mind, this requires three separate Backplane FDDI networks, and it requires 1 backplane port on the first and last concentrator card, and TWO backplane ports on the central concentrators. I was confused to not find a concentrator drawing on the LAN INTERCONNECT menu, having two ports that I could attach to the three FDDI Lans that I had created. Perhaps I am making this too complex? Does the Hub management know what I wish to do? It would be nice to Create ONE FDDI DUAL-RING, and just attach the modules to it. I did not try that. If I let the MAM figure out how to attach all of these cards, what happens when I hot-swap the middle card? or the First Card? thanks for comments. JR
1166.5	KISS principal	CGOS01::DMARLOWE	Have you been HUBbed lately?	`Thu Jun 30 1994 02:42`	54
	> I was under the impression that all FDDI > connections on the backplane were point-to-point links. And that I > needed to create an FDDI LAN for each "connection". I thought so until I tried things with 3 DB 900's in the hub. Two of the DB 900's had either an A or B port to the front, the other was to the backplane. The third had both A and B to the backplane. The hint came when on the LAN INTERCONNECT there was only "1" for the FDDI port, no A or B port. The next hint came when after connecting all three "1's" to the FDDI and waiting until the green LED stopped flashing and went solid. I then removed the DB 900 with both A and B to the backplane. After about 20 seconds (never really timed it) the green LEDs stopped flashing indicating that the A of one DB 900 and the B of the other were now connected directly, thus ignoring the fact that there was a module in the middle. Insert the module back into the hub, put the A and B into the backplane, drag the "1" to the FDDI the other modules are attached to and let the MAM reconfigure the A's and B's to create a new ring. I think its a great way to do it. No more A to B to ... > In my mind, this requires three separate Backplane FDDI networks, and > it requires 1 backplane port on the first and last concentrator card, > and TWO backplane ports on the central concentrators. The MAM does all this for you. What appears as 1 channel to you may be using 2, 4, 6 or more real hub channels to accomplish this. > Perhaps I am making this too complex? Yup. 8^) > Does the Hub management know > what I wish to do? It would be nice to Create ONE FDDI DUAL-RING, and > just attach the modules to it. I did not try that. Try it, you'll like it. > If I let the MAM > figure out how to attach all of these cards, what happens when I > hot-swap the middle card? or the First Card? Above. Use this as a selling feature. I've floored some customers in a competative situation with this. They think its great, almost beyond belief. Have fun. dave
1166.6	All easy except hot swap	LEVERS::SLAWRENCE		`Thu Jun 30 1994 09:44`	10
	The one hitch still in all this is the hot swap; whenever you remove a module (when the Hub is powered up), the MAM deletes all stored backplane configuration for that slot. This means that if you hot swap a LAN-hopping module you must reconfigure it after you insert it; you can't just pop it out and in (or even lift the latch to power cycle it - that counts as removing it) to reset it.
1166.7	Great Concept.	MSDOA::REED	John Reed @CBO, DTN:367-6463, KB4FFE, SouthEast	`Thu Jun 30 1994 11:51`	12
	That is wonderful.. Bravo to the MAM software designers. That explains why I lost connection to my FDDI cards. I had them all connected to separate FDDI backplane networks, using their little purple pull-downs. They dutifully disconnected from each other, and I lost all contact with them. I will go back and remove the silly external FDDI jumpers, and use the backplane for the module interconnect. Thanks for the help. JR
1166.8	Yes, it is great	ZUR01::SCHNEIDERR		`Fri Jul 01 1994 08:17`	12
	> That is wonderful.. Bravo to the MAM software designers. I agree, we always speak (write in notes) about problems, releases not availible, functions we would like to have. At this time I would like congratulate to the HUB and HUBwatch engineering. I realy like the products and we are able to go out to the market with them. I used HUB900 and HUBwatch often now. For shure I had the same problems you can read here in the notes with NDU........ But now I think....great HUBs and a greate tool to config them. Hopefully you guys from engineering go on like this and bring us lot of nice features (hopefully soon) to sell. Roland (DC)