HP Auto Port Aggregation (APA) Release Notes for HP-UX 11i v1, 11i v2, and 11i v3 September 2008

3 HP APA Overview for HP-UX 11i v3
This chapter provides information about the HP-UX 11i v3 (B.11.31.20) September 2008 release
of HP Auto Port Aggregation (APA) and LAN Monitor software.
This release of HP APA now supports improved HP Integrity virtual machine support.
Auto Port Aggregation
HP APA is a software product that creates link aggregates, often called "trunks," which provide
a logical grouping of two or more physical ports into a single "Fat-Pipe." Network traffic is load
balanced across all of the links in the aggregation, which allows you to build large bandwidth
logical links into the server that are highly available and completely transparent to the client and
server applications.
In addition, HP APA provides automatic link failure detection and recovery, and optional support
for load balancing of network traffic across all of the links in the aggregation.
HP APA supports HP Serviceguard. See the HP Auto Port Aggregation (APA) Administrator's
Guide for more information.
Failover Group
HP APA supports the creation of failover groups (link aggregates in LAN_MONITOR mode),
providing a failover capability for links. In the event of a link failure, LAN Monitor automatically
migrates traffic to an available, standby link (port or link aggregate) in the failover group.
New Features in This Release
The B.11.31.20 version of HP APA:
• Enables you to monitor link aggregate MIB statistics using the nwmgr command.
• Supports the resetting of link aggregates and failover groups with the nwmgr and lanadmin
commands.
• Supports using the load distribution algorithm specified in the HP APA raw mode packet
within HP Integrity virtual machines. This requires that you install the HPVM PHSS_36737
patch. Previous releases of HP APA were restricted to the LB_MAC distribution algorithm.
• Supports Accelerated Virtual I/O (AVIO) devices for link aggregates and failover groups,
and the online deletion (OLD) of these devices.
See the HP Auto Port Aggregation (APA) Administrator's Guide (HP Part Number J4240-90045) for
more information on the new features and how to use them.
Known Problems Fixed in This Version
Table 2.1 lists the known problems and fixes in this release of HP APA B.11.31.20.
Table 3-1 Fixes in the HP APA B.11.31.20 Release
DescriptionDefect ID
APA does not process the HP_APA_MAX_LINKAGGS parameter correctly if Infiniband
interfaces are installed in the system.
QXCR1000747320
The hplm start command generates false warning messages in the /etc/rc.log
file.
QXCR1000792664
Known Problems and Limitations
This section describes the known problems and limitations as known to HP at time of publication.
If workarounds are available, they are included.
Auto Port Aggregation 17