9.5 LAN Devices

The DEMNA is an XMI bus Ethernet device that is supported on Alpha systems that have an XMI bus. There are several variants of the DEBNA, the DEBNK, DEBNT, and DEBNI. Each device is implemented using a VAX chip and a LANCE chip. Firmware on the device runs on the VAX and operates the LANCE chip.

The Third Generation Ethernet Controller (TGEC) is embedded in the Alpha-based Digital 4000 system.

The LANCE is a widely used Ethernet chip used in VAX and Alpha systems. It is used in embedded (LOM) configurations in VAX and Alpha systems, and in QBUS and TURBOchannel-based NICs in VAX and Alpha systems.

The DE203 and variants are based on the LEMAC chip. These NICs are used on ISA-based Alpha workstations, primarily the AlphaStation 200 and 400 system.

9.5.3.4.1 ISA LEMAC Hardware Configuration

The DE203 NIC and variants are configured by the console of AlphaStations 200 and 400 systems using the 'isacfg' console utility. First, an ISA slot number is chosen, then the IRQ, IO base address, and DMA channel address. Then the slot is configured with the selected characteristics. When the system is reset or power-cycled, the console configures the device as specified.

For complete information on using 'isacfg' from your console prompt, see the hardware documentation associated with your system for more information.

The ISA slot number is any one of three available slots that is not already in use. The physical location of the NIC in the ISA bus is of no consequence as any free slot can be assigned to the NIC.

To initialize the 'isacfg' data at the console prompt:

>>> isacfg -init

To add a DE205 in slot 1, using IRQ 15:

>>> add_de205>>>isacfg -slot 1 -dev 0 -mod -irq 15

To display the ISA configuration data for slot 1:

>>>isacfg -slot 1 ============================================================= handle: DE200-LE etyp: 1 slot: 1 dev: 0 enadev: 1 totdev: 1 iobase0: 300 iobase1: 8000000000000000 iobase2: 8000000000000000 iobase3: 8000000000000000 iobase4: 8000000000000000 iobase5: 8000000000000000 membase0: d0000 memlen0: 10000 membase1: 8000000000000000 memlen1: 8000000000000000 membase2: 8000000000000000 memlen2: 8000000000000000 rombase: 8000000000000000 romlen: 8000000000000000 dma0: 80000000 irq0: f dma1: 80000000 irq1: 80000000 dma2: 80000000 irq2: 80000000 dma3: 80000000 irq3: 80000000 =============================================================

To display the ISA configuration at the console prompt, showing, in this example, a DE203 configured in slot 1, and two DW110 Token Ring NICs configured in slots 2 and 3.

>>> show config ISA Slot Device Name Type Enabled BaseAddr IRQ DMA 0 0 MOUSE Embedded Yes 60 12 1 KBD Embedded Yes 60 1 2 COM1 Embedded Yes 3f8 4 3 COM2 Embedded Yes 2f8 3 4 LPT1 Embedded Yes 3bc 7 5 FLOPPY Embedded Yes 3f0 6 2 1 0 DE200-LE Singleport Yes 300 15 2 0 DW11 Singleport Yes a20 10 7 3 0 DW11 Singleport Yes 1a20 5 6

The 3COM 3C589 PCMCIA NIC is used on the Tadpole AlphaBook notebook system. There are two variants:

Tulip refers to an Ethernet chip designed by Digital Equipment Corporation. It also refers to later Fast Ethernet versions of the chip that maintain a similar programming interface, so can be controlled by the same driver with few changes.

9.5.3.6.1 Tulip Hardware Configuration

The DE425 and DE435 contain a hardware jumper block that selects twisted-pair or AUI as noted on the printed circuit board. AUI includes 10Base2 (thinwire) or 10Base5 (thickwire) and this selection is made by setting a console environment variable, by a driver autosense algorithm, or by a LANCP command to set the media type, speed, and duplex mode.

On Alpha systems prior to OpenVMS Version 7.1, the Tulip driver autosenses the media connection if needed.

On Alpha systems starting with OpenVMS Version 7.1, the Tulip driver uses the setting of a console environment variable to select the media connection, speed, duplex mode, and auto-negotiation setting. The console environment variable is called EWx0_MODE where x is the controller letter (for example, A, B, C, ...). The console environment variable is set with the command:

SET EWx0_MODE media_selection

The media_selection is defined by Table 9-11.

Table 9-11 Tulip Hardware Media Selection

Media selection	What is selected
Twisted-pair	10BaseT (UTP) half-duplex
Full duplex, twisted-pair	10BaseT (UTP) full-duplex
AUI	10Base5 (thickwire)
BNC	10Base2 (thinwire)
Fast	100BaseTX (UTP) half-duplex
FastFD (full duplex)	100BaseTX (UTP) full-duplex
Autonegotiate	Auto-negotiate speed and duplex (UTP)

 

During driver initialization, a message is sent to the operator's console to indicate the console selection.

If a console environment variable has been set with an unsupported media type for the actual device, then the driver selects a default media type.

An Alpha system console may assign a controller letter to an adapter differently from OpenVMS, because OpenVMS EW devices include Tulip, DEGPA, and Broadcom 5700, but the console only recognizes Tulip devices as EW devices. In this case, you can compare the MAC address listed for the device at the console SHOW CONFIG and the LANCP SHOW CONFIG commands.

On Integrity server systems, there is no console environment variable equivalent, so the default setting is auto-negotiation.

On Alpha and Integrity server systems, you can override the console environment variable setting or default setting of auto-negotiation by defining the speed, duplex mode, and auto-negotiation settings in the LANCP permanent device database.

82559 refers to a Fast Ethernet chip designed by Intel Corporation, either the 82558 or the 82559 chip. These chips are implemented in PCI bus NICs or a embedded PCI bus on the system board. Both chips support auto-negotiation. Table 9-12 lists the Intel 82559 Fast Ethernet characteristics.

9.5.3.7.1 82559 Hardware Configuration

On Alpha systems, the 82559 driver uses the setting of a console environment variable to select the media connection, speed, and duplex mode. The console environment variable is called EIx0_MODE where x is the controller letter (e.g., A, B, C, ...). The console environment variable is set with the command:

SET EWx0_MODE media_selection

The media_selection is defined by Table 9-12.

Table 9-13 82559 Hardware Media Selection

Media selection	What is selected
Twisted-pair	10BaseT (UTP) half-duplex
Full-duplex, twisted-pair	10BaseT (UTP) full-duplex
Fast	100BaseTX (UTP) half-duplex
FastFD (full-duplex)	100BaseTX (UTP) full-duplex
Autonegotiate	Auto-negotiate speed and duplex (UTP)

 

During driver initialization, a message is sent to the operator's console to indicate the console selection.

If a console environment variable has been set to an unsupported speed and duplex for the actual device, then the driver selects auto-negotiation.

On Integrity server systems, there is no console environment variable equivalent, so the default setting is auto-negotiation.

On Alpha and Integrity server systems, you can override the console environment variable setting or default setting of auto-negotiation by defining the speed, duplex mode, and auto-negotiation settings in the LANCP permanent device database.

The DEGPA series of Gigabit Ethernet NICs uses the Tigon2 chip, designed by Alteon Networks..

Table 9-14 lists and describes the devices and drivers of the DEGPA.

The Broadcom 5700 refers to a family of Gigabit Ethernet chips designed by Broadcom Corporation. The 5700 NICs described here use three almost identical variants, the 5701, 5703, and 5704 chips.

9.5.3.9.1 5700 Hardware Configuration

On Alpha systems, the 5700 driver uses the setting of a console environment variable to select the speed and duplex mode. The console environment variable is called EGx0_MODE where x is the controller letter (e.g., A, B, C, ...). The console environment variable is set with the command:

SET EGx0_MODE media_selection

The media_selection is defined by Table 9-16.

Table 9-16 5700 Hardware Media Selection

Media selection	What is selected
auto	Auto-negotiate speed and duplex (UTP)
10mbps	10BaseT (UTP) half-duplex
10mbps_full_duplex	10BaseT (UTP) full-duplex
100mbps	100BaseTX (UTP) half-duplex
100mbps_full_duplex	100BaseTX (UTP) full-duplex
1000mbps	1000BaseT (UTP) half-duplex
1000mbps_full_duplex	1000BaseT (UTP) full-duplex

 

During driver initialization, a message is sent to the operator's console to indicate the console selection.

If a console environment variable has been set with an unsupported media type for the actual device, then the driver selects a default media type.

An Alpha system console may assign a controller letter to an adapter differently from OpenVMS, since OpenVMS EW devices include Tulip, DEGPA, Broadcom 5700, but the console only recognizes 5700 devices as EW devices. In this case you can compare the MAC address listed for the device at the console SHOW CONFIGURATION and LANCP SHOW CONFIGURATION commands.

On Integrity server systems, there is no console environment variable equivalent, so the default setting is auto-negotiation.

On Alpha and Integrity server systems, you can override the console environment variable setting or default setting of auto-negotiation by defining the speed, duplex mode, and auto-negotiation settings in the LANCP permanent device database.

The Intel 82540 refers to a family of Gigabit Ethernet chips designed by Intel Corporation. The variants used on these NICs include the 82540, 82546, and 82571 chips.

XFRAME refers to a family of 10–Gigabit Ethernet adapters from Neterion. The variants used include the AB287A and AD385A.

The Shared Memory device is an emulated Ethernet device that uses Galaxy Shared Memory on Alpha systems. Each Galaxy partion is considered a network node. The driver uses shared memory to send packet data from one node to another. Applications see the Shared Memory device as just another Ethernet device.

The DEMFA is an XMI bus FDDI device that is supported on Alpha systems that have an XMI bus. The DEMFA is a firmware based FDDI controller that uses an Motorola 68000 microprocessor to implement a host interface and the necessary FDDI support functionality.

The DEFZA is a TurboChannel FDDI device supported on Alpha TURBOchannel-based systems.

The PDQ chip forms the basis of a family of FDDI devices. These are shown in Table 9-20

The Texas Instruments TMS380 chip forms the basis of a family of Token Ring devices. These are shown in Table 9-21.

9.5.5.1.1 ISA TMS380 Hardware Configuration

The DW110 is a bus mastering DMA device on the ISA bus. In addition to setting up the ISA I/O parameters, you may configure ring speed (4 or 16 megabits/second) and media (UTP or STP). By using LANCP you can also configure ring speed and media during system startup. Example 9-1 shows how to configure the OpenVMS software to use the DW110 device.

The method for configuring an ISA TMS380 device is to type 'isacfg' at the console prompt (>>>). For complete information on using 'isacfg' from your console prompt, see the hardware documentation associated with your system for more information.

The following example illustrates a configuration of:

• Slot 4

• IRQ 10

• DMA channel 7

• Base %x4e20

• Shielded twisted pair (STP)

• Ring speed of 16

Example 9-1 Using the 'isacfg' at Console Prompt with the DW110

>>> isacfg -slot 4 -etyp 1 -ena 1 -irq0 %xa -dmachan0 7 -iobase0 %x4e20 -handle "DW11,STP,16" -mk

The -mk command makes an isacfg entry for an ISA device at slot 4. It is a Single port type of device (-etyp 1). The -handle parameter tells the operating system that this is a DW110 device, that STP media is to be used, and the ring speed is 16.

OTTO refers to a family of ATM adapters developed by Digital Equipment Corporation. The TurboChannel adapter is named OTTO. The PCI DGLPB adapter is named OPPO. OTTO and OPPO are programmable logic designs where the driver loads firmware onto the adapters to program the FPGA devices. The DGLPA is a single chip ATM adapter that is a considerably different implementation but lumped into this same category.

The OTTO drivers support ATM LAN Emulation according to the ATM LANE standards, and Classical IP over ATM according to RFC 1577.

The DAPBA and DAPCA are ATM adapters made by Fore Networks, Inc., now part of Marconi Corporation, Plc.

The FORE drivers support ATM LAN Emulation according to the ATM LANE standards.

For each DAPBA, HP recommends increasing the SYSGEN parameter NPAGEVIR by 3000000. For each DAPCA, HP also recommends increasing NPAGEVIR by 6000000. To do this, add the ADD_NPAGEVIR parameter to MODPARAMS.DAT and then run AUTOGEN. For example, add the following command to MODPARAMS.DAT on a system with two DAPBAs and one DAPCA:

ADD_NPAGEVIR = 12000000

The following restrictions apply to the DAPBA and DAPCA adapters.

Permanent Virtual Circuits are set up and torn down by prior arrangement. They are established manually by a user before the sending of any data between endpoints on a network. Some PVCs are defined directly on the switch; others are predefined for use in managing switched virtual circuits (SVCs).

Switched virtual circuits require no operator interaction to create and manage connections between endpoints. Software sets up and tears down connections dynamically as they are needed through the request of an endpoint.

LAN emulation over an ATM network network allows existing applications to run essentially unchanged while also allowing the applications to run on computers directly connected to the ATM network. The LAN emulation hides the underlying ATM network at the media access control (MAC) layer, which provides device driver interfaces.

Table 9-24 shows the four components that make up a LAN emulation over an ATM network. Of the four components, OpenVMS supports only the LAN emulation client (LEC). The remaining components are provided by the ATM switch.

The LEC exists on all ATM-attached computers that participate in the LAN emulation configuration. LEC provides the ATM MAC-layer connectionless function that is transparent to the LAN-type applications. The LEC, LES, and BUS can exist on one ATM-attached computer or on separate computers. The server functions usually reside inside an ATM switch, but can be implemented on client systems.

Figure 9-10 shows the topology of a typical emulated LAN over ATM.

Figure 9-10 Emulated LAN Topology

Classical IP (CLIP) implements a data-link level device that has the same semantics as an Ethernet interface (802.3). This interface is used by a TCP/IP protocol to transmit 802.3 (IEEE Ethernet) frames over an ATM network. The model that OpenVMS follows for exchanging IP datagrams over ATM is based on RFC 1577 (Classical IP over ATM).

For information on using LANCP commands to manage Classical IP, see the HP OpenVMS System Management Utilities Reference Manual.

The ATM software is set to autosense the UNI version by default. Setting bit 3 of the system parameter, LAN_FLAGS, to 1 enables UNI 3.0 over all ATM adapters. Setting bit 4 of the system parameter, LAN_FLAGS, to 1 enables UNI 3.1 over all ATM adapters.

The ATM drivers have the capability of operating with either synchronous optical network (SONET) or Synchronous Digital Hierarchy (SDH) framing. Setting bit 0 of the system parameter, LAN_FLAGS, to 1 enables SDH framing. Setting bit 0 of the system parameter, LAN_FLAGS, to 0 enables SONET framing (default). For this to take affect, the system parameter must be specified correctly before the ATM adapter driver is loaded.

OpenVMS Alpha does not support ATM adapters as boot devices.

The LANCP utility sets up an Emulated LAN (ELAN). If the ELAN is defined in the permanent database, these settings take effect at boot time. To define the commands in the permanent database for specific adapters, you invoke the DEFINE DEVICE commands. Once these commands define the adapters in the permanent database, the ELAN can be started during system startup.

You can also invoke the LANCP SET commands to start up an ELAN after the system is booted.

The following example shows the DEFINE DEVICE commands that define the adapter in the permanent database:

$ mcr lancp
LANCP> define device ela0/elan=create
LANCP> define device ela0/elan=(parent=hwa0,type=csmacd,size=1516)
LANCP> define device ela0/elan=(descr="An ATM ELAN")
LANCP> define device ela0/elan=enable=startup
LANCP> list dev ela0/param

Device Characteristics, Permanent Database, for ELA0:
                  Value  Characteristic
                  ——  —————
                   HWA0  Parent ATM device
          "An ATM ELAN"  Emulated LAN description
                   1516  Emulated LAN packet size
                CSMA/CD  Emulated LAN type
                    Yes  Emulated LAN enabled for startup
LANCP> exit
$

The following example shows the SET DEVICE commands required for setting up an ELAN with the desired parameters. Note that some of the commands generate a console message.

$ mcr lancp
LANCP> set dev ela0/elan=create

%%%%%%%%%%%  OPCOM  26-MAR-2001 16:57:12.89  %%%%%%%%%%%
Message from user SYSTEM on ALPHA1
LANACP LAN Services
Found LAN device ELA0, hardware address 00-00-00-00-00-00

LANCP> set dev ela0/elan=(parent=hwa0,type=csmacd,size=1516)
LANCP> set dev ela0/elan=(descr="An ATM ELAN")
LANCP> set dev ela0/elan=enable=startup

%ELDRIVER, LAN Emulation event at 26-MAR-1996 16:57:28.78
%ELDRIVER, LAN Emulation startup: Emulated LAN 1 on device ELA0

LANCP> sho dev ela/char

   Device Characteristics ELA0:
                  Value  Characteristic
                  ——  —————
                 Normal  Controller mode
               External  Internal loopback mode
                CSMA/CD  Communication medium
                     16  Minimum receive buffers
                     32  Maximum receive buffers
                     No  Full duplex enable
                     No  Full duplex operational
            Unspecified  Line media
                     10  Line speed (megabits/second)
                CSMA/CD  Communication medium
                 "HWA0"  Parent ATM Device
          "An ATM ELAN"  Emulated LAN Description
   3999990000000008002B  LAN Emulation Server ATM Address
   A57E80AA000302FF1300
                Enabled  Emulated LAN State
LANCP> exit
$

For information about using LANCP and system manager commands with qualifiers for LAN emulation over ATM networks, see the HP OpenVMS System Management Utilities Reference Manual and HP OpenVMS System Manager's Manual.