Incorporating External NICs HowTo

Overview
This document describes the procedures for incorporating more than one external networking
interface card (NIC) in a node of an HP XC system. The cluster_config utility configures the
first external physical Ethernet port.
HP recommends that the ordering of NICs remain consistent for all nodes of the same model
type. That is, for nodes of the same model type, the NICs in the same physical location should
be configured consistently as part of the same logical network because they typically share the
same gateway, netmask, and other settings.
Incorporating NICs involves:
• Gathering configuration and networking data
• Editing configuration files
• Updating the configuration and management database (CMDB)
• Optionally updating the HP XC IP firewall
• Verifying success
Perform this HowTo after installing the physical Network Interface card (NIC) according to the
manufacturer's instructions.
1 Minimum Requirements
Table 1 lists the minimum requirements to help you determine if this HowTo is right for you.
Table 1 Minimum Requirements
Minimum RequirementComponent
HP XC System Software Version 3.1 and higherHP XC System Software Version
• HP CP3000 (Intel Xeon)
• HP CP4000 (AMD Opteron)
• HP CP6000 (Intel Itanium 2)
Supported Cluster Platforms
The master firmware tables are available at the following Web site:
http://www.docs.hp.com/en/highperfcomp.html.
Firmware Requirements
You should be an experienced Linux system administrator or network
administrator to perform the tasks in this HowTo.
Knowledge and Experience Level
2 Impact
Table 2 lists the effects of this HowTo on existing HP XC systems.
Table 2 Affect on Existing HP XC Systems
DescriptionAffected Function
The node or nodes that receive the additional network interface cards
will be unavailable for a period of time while they are reimaged.
System availability
Recabling the NICs is required for their physical installation. If you
decide to reposition a NIC on the node, additional recabling will be
required.
Hardware configuration
3 Before You Begin
Before you apply this procedure to incorporate an additional NIC, HP recommends that you
understand the following information and perform preliminary tasks in this section.
1 Minimum Requirements 7