Using Broadcom Advanced Control Suite 4: Broadcom NetLink®/NetXtreme® 57XX User Guide

Broadcom Advanced Control Suite (BACS) is an integrated utility that provides useful information about each network adapter that is installed in your system. BACS 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, 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

In Control Panel, click Broadcom Control Suite 4, or click the BACS icon in the taskbar located at the bottom of the Windows desktop.

Using Broadcom Advanced Control Suite

Start BACS. 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.

BACS Interface

Explorer View pane

Context View selector

Context View pane

Menu bar

Description pane

By default, the Explorer View pane is docked and pinned on the left side of the main window, the Context View pane on the right, the Context View selector below the menu bar, and the Description pane below the Context View pane. Drag the splitter between any two panes to vary the size of the panes.

Explorer View Pane

You can dock and pin the Explorer View pane on the left side, right side, top, or bottom of the main window.

The Explorer View pane lists the objects that can be viewed, analyzed, tested, or configured by BACS. When an item is selected in the Explorer View pane, the tabs showing the information and options that are available for the item appear in the Context View pane.

The organization of this panel is designed to present the manageable objects in the same hierarchical manner as drivers and its subcomponents. This simplifies the management of various elements of the network interface controller (NIC). The top level of the hierarchy is the Host container, which lists all hosts managed by BACS. Below the hosts are the installed network adapters, with the manageable elements, such as physical port, VBD, and NDIS below the adapters.

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

X. A red "X" that appears on the device's icon indicates the device is currently not connected to the network.

Greyed out. A device icon that appears greyed out indicates the device is currently disabled.

Context View Selector

The Context View selector appears below the menu bar and includes the filter and tab categories. Although you can expand and collapse the categories that appear on tabs in the Context View pane, you can alternatively display a category by selecting the box next to the category name.

Filter View

In a multiple-host environment using several network adapters, there can be a large number of manageable elements per adapter that can be difficult and cumbersome to view, configure, and manage all elements. Use the filter to select a particular device function. Possible filter views include:

All

Team view

NDIS view

iSCSI view

FCoE view

iSCSI Target view

FCoE Target view

Context View Pane

The Context View pane displays all the parameters that you can view for the object selected in the Explorer View pane. The parameters are grouped by tabs and categories, depending on the parameter type. The available tabs are Information, Configuration, Diagnostics, and Statistics. Because the BACS interface is context-sensitive, only the parameters that apply to the selected object can be viewed or configured in the Context View pane.

Menu Bar

The following appear on the menu bar, but because the menu items are context-sensitive, not all items will be available at all times:

Team Save As: saves the current team configurations to a file

Team Restore: restores any saved team configuration from a file

Remove Host: removes the selected host

Refresh Host: refreshes the information for the selected host

Explorer View: displays/hides the Explorer View pane

Tool Bar: displays/hides the tool bar

Status Bar: displays/hides the status bar

Broadcom Logo: displays/hides the Broadcom Logo on BACS to optimize the maximum viewable space

Options: used for configuring BACS preferences

Create Teams: creates new teams with either the Teaming Wizard or in Advanced mode

Manage Teams: manages existing teams with either the Teaming Wizard or in Advanced mode

Description Pane

The Description pane provides information, configuration instructions, and options for the selected parameter in the Context View pane.

Configuring Preferences

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

From the Tools menu, select Options.

Select or clear Enable BACSTray (the option is enabled by default).

Click OK.

From the Tools menu, select Options.

Select Expert Mode if you do not need the assistance of the teaming wizard to create teams; otherwise, select Wizard Mode.

Click OK.

From the Tools menu, select Options.

Select Auto to set the Explorer View refresh time to 5 seconds. Otherwise, select Custom and select a time, in seconds.

Click OK.

Connecting to a Host

From the Action menu, click Add Host.

For both Windows and Linux hosts, do not change the default settings. The User name and Password are not required while connecting to the local host.

Select Persist if you want BACS to save the information for this host.

Click Ok. BACS can now be used to view information and manage the host.

From the Action menu, click Add Host.

Type the remote host's name or IP address in the Host box.

Select the protocol from the Protocol list. The protocol options for Windows are WMI, WinRM, or Try All. The protocol options for Linux are CimXML, WinRM, or Try All. The Try All option forces the GUI client to try all options.

Select the HTTP scheme, or the HTTPS scheme for added security.

Type the Port Number value you used to configure the host, if it is different than the default value of 5985.

Type the User name and Password.

Select Persist if you want BACS to save the information for this host. The host will appear in the Explorer Pane whenever you reopen BACS, and you will not need to enter the host IP address or host name when connecting to the host. For security reasons, you must enter the User name and Password every time.

Click OK.

Managing the Host

At the host level, you can view host information and configure parameters from the following tabs:

Information

Configuration

Select the host in the Explorer View pane, and then select the Information tab to view host-level information.

Select the host in the Explorer View pane, and then select the Configuration tab to configure host-level parameters.

Managing the Network Adapter

The installed network adapters appear one level below the host in the hierarchical tree in the Explorer View pane. At the adapter level, you can view information and configure parameters from the following tabs:

Information

Configuration

Viewing Adapter Information

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.

Select the network adapter in the Explorer View pane, and then select the Information tab to view adapter-level information.

Information about Broadcom network adapters may be more comprehensive than information about network adapters made by others.

Some information may not be available for all Broadcom network adapters.

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).

Up. A link is established.

Down. A link is not established.

LSO. Large Send Offload (LSO) prevents an upper level protocol such as TCP from breaking a large data packet into a series of smaller packets with headers appended to them.

CO. Checksum Offload (CO) allows the TCP/IP/UDP checksums for send and receive traffic to be calculated by the adapter hardware rather than by the host CPU.

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 Explorer View pane, then click the Information tab.

Loaded. Normal operating mode. The adapter driver has been loaded by Windows and is functioning.

Not Loaded. The driver associated with the adapter has not been loaded by Windows.

Information Not Available. The value is not obtainable from the driver that is associated with the adapter.

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 Explorer View pane, then click the Information tab.

The slot number on the system board occupied by the adapter. This item is not available for PCI Express type adapters.

The bus clock signal frequency used by the adapter. This item is not available for PCI Express type adapters.

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.

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.

The interrupt line number that is associated with the adapter. Valid numbers range from 2 to 25.

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 Explorer View pane, then click the Information tab.

The chip version of the Broadcom adapter (this information is not available for adapters made by others).

The firmware version of the Broadcom adapter (this information is not available for adapters made by others). This information is only available for Broadcom NetXtreme adapters.

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.

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

Click the name of the adapter to test in the Explorer View pane.

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.

To change the destination IP address, select IP address to ping. In the Network Test window, enter a Destination IP address, then click OK.

Click Test.

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 Result 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 Result field for that test is 4/0. However, if there were 3 passes and 1 fail, the value in the Result field is 3/1.

You must have administrator privileges to run diagnostic tests.

The network connection is temporarily lost while these tests are running.

Some tests are not supported on all Broadcom adapters.

Click the name of the adapter to test in the Explorer View pane and select the Diagnostics tab.

From the Select a test to run list, select Diagnostic Tests.

Select the diagnostic tests you want to run. Click Select All to select all tests or Clear All to clear all test selections.

Select the number of times to run the tests from Number of loops.

Click Run test(s).

In the error message window that warns of the network connection being temporarily interrupted, click Yes. The results are displayed in the Result field for each test.

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.

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.

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.

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.

This test verifies that the Network Device Driver Interface Specification (NDIS) driver is able to receive interrupts from the adapter.

This test verifies that the NDIS driver is able to send packets to and receive packets from the adapter.

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.

You must have administrator privileges to run the cable analysis test.

The network connection is temporarily lost during an analysis.

For Broadcom NetXtreme adapters, the cable analysis test can only run for gigabit link speed connections and when there is no connection.

This option is not available for all Broadcom network adapters.

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.

Click the name of the adapter to test in the Explorer View pane.

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.

Click Run.

In the error message window that warns of the network connection being temporarily interrupted, click Yes.

Good. Good cable/PCB signal paths, but no gigabit link.

Crossed. Pin short or crosstalk along two or more cable/PCB signal paths.

Open. One or both pins are open for a twisted pair.

Short. Two pins from the same twisted pair are shorted together.

Noise. Persistent noise present (most likely caused by Forced 10/100).

GB Link. Gigabit link is up and running.

N/A. Algorithm failed to reach a conclusion.

Link partner. Various switch and hub manufacturers implement different PHYs. Some PHYs are not IEEE compliant.

Cable quality. Category 3, 4, 5, and 6 may affect the test results.

Electrical interference. The testing environment may affect the test results.

Setting Adapter Properties

Advanced 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.

You must have administrator privileges to change the values for a property.

The list of available properties for your particular adapter may be different.

Some properties may not be available for all Broadcom network adapters.

Click the name of the adapter in the Explorer View pane, and click the Configurations tab.

From the Advanced section, select the property you want to set.

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).

Click Apply to confirm the changes to all properties. Click Reset to return the properties to their original values.

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.

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.

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.

Auto (default). PAUSE frame receipt and transmission are optimized.

Disable. PAUSE frame receipt and transmission are disabled.

Rx PAUSE. PAUSE frame receipt is enabled.

Rx/Tx PAUSE. PAUSE frame receipt and transmission are enabled.

Tx PAUSE. PAUSE frame transmission is enabled.

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.

Rx Enabled. Enables receive TCP/IP/UDP checksum offload.

Tx Enabled. Enables transmit TCP/IP/UDP checksum offload.

Tx/Rx Enabled (default). Enables transmit and receive TCP/IP/UDP checksum offload.

None. Disables checksum 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.

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 (9600 bytes for network adapters that operate at 10 Gbps). This property requires the presence of a switch that is able to process jumbo frames.

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.

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.

Value. Assigns a unique node address for the adapter.

Not Present (default). Uses the factory-assigned node address on the adapter.

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

The range is 00:00:00:00:00:01 to FF:FF:FF:FF:FF:FD.

Do not use a multicast address (least significant bit of the high byte = 1).

Do not use all 0s or all Fs.

Allows configuring network load balancing across multiple CPUs. The default setting for this property is Enabled.

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.

10 Mb Full. Sets the speed at 10 Mbit/s and the mode to Full-Duplex.

10 Mb Half. Sets the speed at 10 Mbit/s and the mode to Half-Duplex.

100 Mb Full. Sets the speed at 100 Mbit/s and the mode to Full-Duplex.

100 Mb Half. Sets the speed at 100 Mbit/s and the mode to Half-Duplex.

Auto (default). Sets the speed and mode for optimum network connection (recommended).

NOTES:

Auto is the recommended setting. This setting allows the network adapter to dynamically detect the line speed of the network. Whenever the network capability changes, the network adapter automatically detects and adjusts to the new line speed and duplex mode. A speed of 1 Gbit/s is enabled by selecting Auto, when that speed is supported.

1 Gb Full Auto must be attached to a link partner that is also capable of a 1 Gb connection. Since the connection is limited to a 1 Gb connection only, the Ethernet@Wirespeed feature will be disabled. If the link partner supports a 1 Gb connection only, the Wake on LAN feature may not work. Additionally, management traffic (IPMI or UMP) in the absence of an operating system may also be affected.

10 Mb Half and 100 Mb Half settings force the network adapter to connect to the network in Half-Duplex mode. Note that the network adapter may not function if the network is not configured to operate at the same mode.

10 Mb Full and 100 Mb Full settings force the network adapter to connect to the network in Full-Duplex mode. The network adapter may not function if the network is not configured to operate at the same mode.

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.

Both (default). Selects both Magic Packet and Wake Up Frame as wake-up frames.

Magic Packet. Selects Magic Packet as the wake-up frame.

None. Selects no wake-up frame.

Wake Up Frame. Selects Wake Up Frame as the wake-up frame and allows the network adapter to wake the system when an event such as a ping or an Address Resolution Protocol (ARP) request is received. This option works in conjunction with the operating system power mode saving and does not work if the Power Save setting does not enable WOL.

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.

10 Mb. Sets the speed to 10 Mbit/s. This is the network speed when the system is in a standby mode awaiting a wake-up frame.

100 Mb. Sets the speed to 100 Mbit/s.

Auto (default). Sets the speed for optimum network connection.

NOTES:

Wake on LAN is supported at 10 Mbit/s or 100 Mbit/s.

Wake on LAN is supported on only one adapter in the system at a time.

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.

Disable. Disables checksum offload.

Rx Enabled. Enables receive TCP/IP/UDP checksum offload.

Tx Enabled. Enables transmit TCP/IP/UDP checksum offload.

TX & Rx Enabled (default). Enables transmit and receive TCP/IP/UDP checksum offload.

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).

Priority & VLAN Enabled (default). Allows for packet prioritization and VLAN tagging.

Priority & VLAN Disabled. Prevents packet prioritization and VLAN tagging.

Priority Enabled. Allows packet prioritization only.

VLAN Enabled. Allows VLAN tagging only.

Note: If an intermediate driver is managing the network adapter for VLAN tagging, the Priority & VLAN Disabled and Priority Enabled settings should not be used. Use the Priority & VLAN Enabled setting and change the VLAN ID to 0 (zero).

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.

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.

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 Explorer View 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.

Team statistics are not compiled for a Broadcom network adapter if it is disabled.

Some statistics may not be available for all Broadcom network adapters.

General Statistics

General Statistics show the transmitted and received statistics to and from the adapter.

A count of the frames that were successfully transmitted. This counter is incremented when the transmit status is reported as Transmit 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Using the Broadcom Teaming Wizard

Using Expert Mode

NOTES:

For further information regarding teaming protocols, see "Teaming" in your Broadcom network adapter user guide.

If you do not enable LiveLink™ when configuring teams, disabling Spanning Tree Protocol (STP) at the switch is recommended. This minimizes the downtime due to spanning tree loop determination when failing over. LiveLink mitigates such issues.

BASP is available only if a system has one or more Broadcom network adapters installed.

The Large Send Offload (LSO) and Checksum Offload properties are enabled for a team only when all of the members support and are configured for the feature.

You must have administrator privileges to create or modify a team.

The load balance algorithm in a team environment in which members are connected at different speeds favors members connected with a Gigabit Ethernet link over members connected at lower speed links (100 Mbps or 10 Mbps) until a threshold is met. This is normal behavior.

Wake on LAN (WOL) is a feature that allows a system to be awakened from a sleep state by the arrival of a specific packet over the Ethernet interface. Because a virtual adapter is implemented as a software only device, it lacks the hardware features to implement WOL and cannot be enabled to wake the system from a sleeping state via the virtual adapter. The physical adapters, however, support this property, even when the adapter is part of a team.

Team Types

Smart Load Balance and Failover

Link Aggregation (802.3ad)

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

SLB (Auto-Fallback Disable) – The Auto-Fallback Disable feature is configured for Smart Load Balance and Failover type teams in the Teaming Wizard.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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, 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.

To continue using the wizard, click Next.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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).

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.

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 16.).

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.

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.

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.

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

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 18. of this procedure).

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.

Type the VLAN name and then click Next.

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

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 17. of this procedure).

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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, 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.

From the Teams menu, select Create 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.

Click Expert Mode.

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

Click the Create Team tab.

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

Click the Team Name field to enter a team name.

Click the Team Type field to select a team type.

Assign any available adapter or adapters to the team by selecting the adapter from the Load Balance Members list. There must be at least one adapter selected in the Load Balance Members list.

You can assign any other available adapter to be a standby member by selecting it from the Standby Member list.

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

The Large Send Offload (LSO), Checksum Offload (CO), and RSS indicate if the LSO, CO, and/or RSS properties are supported for the team. The LSO, CO, and RSS properties are enabled for a team only when all of the members support and are configured for the feature.

Type the value for Team MTU.

Click Create to save the team information.

Repeat steps 4. through 9. 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.

Click Apply/Exit to create all the teams you have defined and exit the Manage Teams window.

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

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.

Configure the team IP address.

From Control Panel, double-click Network Connections.

Right-click the name of the team to be configured, and then click Properties.

On the General tab, click Internet Protocol (TCP/IP), and then click Properties.

Configure the IP address and any other necessary TCP/IP configuration for the team, and then click OK when finished.

Modifying a Team

Change the type of team

Change the members assigned to the team

Add a VLAN

Modify a VLAN (using Expert Mode)

Remove a team or a VLAN (using Expert Mode)

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.

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

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

Click the Edit Team tab.

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.

Click Apply/Exit to apply the updates and exit the Manage Teams window.

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.

From the Teams menu, select Add VLAN.

The Welcome screen appears.

Click Expert Mode.

On the Create Team tab of the Manage Teams window, click Manage VLAN(s).

Type the VLAN name, then select the type and ID.

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.

Continue this process until all VLANs are defined, then click OK to create them.

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

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

Select one of the listed VLANs.

Click the Information tab to view the properties of the VLAN adapter.

Click the Statistics tab to view the statistics for the VLAN adapter.

Click the Diagnostics tab to run a network test on the VLAN adapter.

Deleting a VLAN

Select the VLAN to delete.

From the Teams menu, select Remove VLAN.

Click Apply.

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

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

Before you begin configuring LiveLink™, review the description of LiveLink. Also verify that each probe target you plan to specify is available and working. If the IP address of the probe target changes for any reason, LiveLink must be reconfigured. If the MAC address of the probe target changes for any reason, you must restart the team (see "Troubleshooting").

A probe target must be on the same subnet as the team, have a valid (not a broadcast, multicast, or unicast), statically-assigned IP address, and be highly available (always on).

To ensure network connectivity to the probe target, ping the probe target from the team.

You can specify up to four probe targets.

The IP address assigned to either a probe target or team member cannot have a zero as the first or last octet.

From the Teams menu, select Edit Team.

Click Expert Mode (to configure LiveLink using the Teaming Wizard, see Using the Broadcom Teaming Wizard).

In the Manage Members window, click the Edit Team tab.

Select Enable LiveLink. The LiveLink Configuration options appear below.

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.

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).

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.

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

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.

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

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

Click Update. Repeat these steps for each of the other listed team members.

Click Apply/Exit.

Saving and Restoring a Configuration

From the File menu, select Team Save As.

Type the path and file name of the new configuration file, and then click Save (a .bcg extension is added).

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.

From the File menu, select Team Restore.

Click the name of the file to be restored, and then click Open.

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

Click Apply.

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

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.

Note: The team may take a very long time to restore if the team is configured with many VLANs and a static IP address.

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.

This is the number of consecutively missed responses from a probe target before a failover is triggered.