MultiNICA notes
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If all NICs configured in the Device attribute are down, the MultiNICA agent faults the resource after a two-three minute interval. This delay occurs because the MultiNICA agent tests the failed NIC several times before it marks the resource offline. Failover logs record a detailed description of the events.
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For a single main.cf configuration file, you can only have one MultiNICA resource, which uses either the IPv4 or the IPv6 protocol for a given set of devices. For example, if you have a MultiNICA resource configured as follows:
MultiNICA mnic (
Device@sysa = { en0 = "10.128.8.42", en1 = "10.128.8.42" }
Device@sysb = { en0 = "10.128.8.43", en1 = "10.128.8.43" }
You cannot have another MultiNICA resource that uses the same device names (en0 and en1) in the main.cf file.
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The MultiNICA agent supports only one active NIC on one IP subnet; the agent does not work with multiple active NICs on the same subnet.
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On AIX, for example, you have two active NICs, en0 (10.128.2.5) and en1 (10.128.2.8). You configure a third NIC, en2, as the backup NIC to en1. The agent does not fail over from en1 to en2 because some ping tests are redirected through en0 on the same subnet. The redirect makes the MultiNICA monitor return an online status.
EtherChannel support
EtherChannel aggregates multiple network interfaces so that they appear as a single interface. For example you can combine en0 and en1 into an EtherChannel and call the combined interface en2. You then use the MultiNICA agent to monitor this en2 interface. You use the IPMultiNIC agent to configure and monitor an IPMultiNIC address on the en2 interface. Note that you use the en2 interface configured through EtherChannel for the Device attribute.
The IPMultiNIC and MultiNICA bundled agents support EtherChannel use with VCS. EtherChannel is responsible for providing local adapter swapping, which is outside of VCS control. EtherChannel Backup and active-active modes are supported.
