[eepro100] Teaming / Trunking

[Tobias Ernst]

Hi!

We have a HP Procure 2512 switch, which supports adapter port trunking
(combining two adapters into one logical one to get 200 MBit/s instead of
100) using LACP, FEC or a "non-protocol" option simply labeled "Trunk".

Then we have six machines with Tyan LE S2510 serverworks boards, which
feature two onboard Intel PRO/100+ Management adapters.

Our intention was to team these two onboard NIC's using FEC to get a 200
MBit/s connection. But after downloading the e100 and the iANS drivers from
the Intel site we discovered (both from the README's as well as in reality),
that iANS will not work without at least one Intel *Server* adapter in the
team. However, this XXX mainboard does not have such adapters onboard.

So I am investigating alternatives. Is there any other method to achieve
teaming on Linux besides using iANS? And do you know if the requirement for
an Intel "Server" adapter is a technical one, or if it only is licensing
policy?

I don't need all that fancy fail-safety, dymanic reconfiguration etc. stuff.
I simpy want to double the bandwith, and it is OK for me if the network does
not work when one of the two connections is down. I think this should be
achievable with the ProCurve's "non-protocol trunking option", and I think
that a driver for this should not be too hard to write. Is there any such
thing for Linux?

Kind Regards,
Tobias Ernst [ICA1, University of Stuttgart]