"Brian" == Brian Tao taob@risc.org writes:
Brian> Since this is all theoretical (to me, anyway), I have some Brian> questions. :)
Brian> What characters are allowed in a VIF name?
A vif name may be composed of any non-blank characters and should begin with a letter. The name may be at most 15 characters long.
Brian> Is anyone using single-mode VIF's across two different switches like Brian> this?
Yes. We have a number of customers who use single-mode vifs composed of links attached to two different switches to protect against switch failure.
Brian> How does the Netapp know which VIF to use with the "vif favor" Brian> command? I assume this means a physical interface can only Brian> participate in one VIF at a time.
Yes, an interface (physical or virtual) can only participate in one vif at a time.
Brian> Is it possible to prioritize interfaces in a VIF with more than two Brian> ports trunked together?
If you're asking "can you favor a link in a single-mode VIF composed of more than 2 links", the answer is yes. If you're asking "can I specify secondary, tertiary (and so on) priority for links in a single-mode VIF", the answer is no: only one link may be favored; all others are equally "non-favored".
Brian> Can VIF's be shared in a cluster? Can they share ports as above? Brian> Special mention is only made about super VIF's and clustering in the Brian> 5.3.2 SAG.
vifs can't be shared across a cluster. However, the surviving node may takeover for a vif just like it may takeover for other interfaces. Which interface takes over is specified using the "ifconfig" "partner" clause. Please note that vif partners MUST be specified using the interface name (e.g. vif0), not the interface address (e.g. 172.27.5.50). This was not clearly spelled out in the documentation, and it has tripped up a number of people.
Brian> Can super VIF's be created from single-mode VIF's, or only Brian> multi-mode VIF's? Again, the manual only mentions the latter, but Brian> does not prohibit the former.
Super vifs may be created from single-mode vifs or multi-mode vifs. I'm not sure why you would want to create a super-vif from single-mode vifs, though.
Brian> Can super VIF's themselves be multi-mode, or single-mode only?
Single mode only.
Sam