3Com | Release Notes

SuperStack(TM) II Hub 100 Management Unit User Guide Release Notes

Modified: 12/17/96

Product: SuperStack II Hub 100 Management Unit
Technology: Ethernet
Product Family: Hubs
Product Line: SuperStack II Hub
SW Ver No. 00 FW Ver No. HW Ver No.

Release Notes for the

SuperStack II Hub 100 Management Unit User Guide

Part Number 09-1000-000/July 1996

3Com Corporation - 5400 Bayfront Plaza - Santa Clara, California - 95052-8145

© 3Com Corporation, 1996. All rights reserved. No part of this documentation may be reproduced in any form or by any means or used to make any derivative work (such as translation, transformation, or adaptation) without permission from 3Com Corporation.

3Com Corporation reserves the right to revise this documentation and to make changes in content from time to time without obligation on the part of 3Com Corporation to provide notification of such revision or change.

3Com Corporation provides this documentation without warranty of any kind, either implied or expressed, including, but not limited to, the implied warranties of merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose. 3Com may make improvements or changes in the product(s) and/or the program(s) described in this documentation at any time.

UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT LEGENDS:

If you are a United States government agency, then this documentation and the software described herein are provided to you subject to the following restricted rights:

For units of the Department of Defense:

Restricted Rights Legend: Use, duplication or disclosure by the Government is subject to restrictions as set forth in subparagraph (c) (1) (ii) for restricted Rights in Technical Data and Computer Software clause at 48 C.F.R. 52.227-7013. 3Com Corporation, 5400 Bayfront Plaza, Santa Clara, California 95052-8145.

For civilian agencies:

Restricted Rights Legend: Use, reproduction or disclosure is subject to restrictions set forth in subparagraph (a) through (d) of the Commercial Computer Software - Restricted Rights Clause at 48 C.F.R. 52.227-19 and the limitations set forth in 3Com Corporation's standard commercial agreement for the software. Unpublished rights reserved under the copyright laws of the United States.

If there is any software on removable media described in this documentation, it is furnished under a license agreement included with the product as a separate document, in the hard copy documentation, or on the removable media in a directory file named LICENSE.TXT. If you are unable to locate a copy, please contact 3Com and a copy will be provided to you.

Unless otherwise indicated, 3Com registered trademarks are registered in the United States and may or may not be registered in other countries.

3Com, LinkBuilder, and Transcend are registered trademarks of 3Com Corporation. FMS, SmartAgent, and SuperStack are trademarks of 3Com Corporation.

Windows is a trademark of Microsoft Corporation. UNIX is a trademark of Novell, Inc.

Other brand and product names may be registered trademarks or trademarks of their respective holders.

Introduction

These release notes describe new features of the version 2.0 flash EPROM software for the 3Com® SuperStack (TM) II Hub 100 Management Unit.

Table 1 lists the procedures required to identify and update the flash EPROM software of the 3Com SuperStack II Hub 100 Management Unit and the LinkBuilder® FMS (TM) 100 Management Unit. These procedures are described in the SuperStack II Hub 100 Management Unit User Guide and the LinkBuilder FMS 100 Management Unit User Guide.

Table 1 Flash EPROM Upgrade Procedures

Procedure

User Guide Chapter

Section

How to determine the current flash EPROM software revision

Chapter 5

Status

How to obtain the current flash EPROM image from the 3Com BBS

Appendix D

Online Technical Services

How to download the flash EPROM image to the Management Unit

Chapter 4

Downloading Software

The version 2.0 flash EPROM software enhancements are as follows:

o RMON support

o Support for resilient links

o Unauthorized Device Action option

o Support for BootP server

o Remote Poll by MAC Address option

Changes to the Menu Tree

Figure 1, "Management Forms Menu Tree," replaces Figure A-1 of the same title in the SuperStack II Hub 100 Management Unit User Guide. Use this diagram as a navigational aid in moving through the forms used to configure the Management Unit.

Figure 1 Management Forms Menu Tree

RMON Support

RMON is the abbreviation for the Remote Network Monitoring MIB defined by the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) in documents RFC 1271 and RFC 1757. The 3Com Transcend® SmartAgent (TM) RMON provides a mechanism for remote monitoring and analysis of a local area network.

NOTE: The RMON capabilities of 3Com hubs can be accessed only through SNMP applications, not through the console port or Telnet. For more information about the details of managing 3Com devices using RMON, see the user documentation for Transcend network management applications for Windows® and UNIX® operating systems.

Implementation

Table 2 summarizes the RMON groups supported by version 2.0 of the flash EPROM software for the SuperStack II Hub 100 Management Unit. Table 2 also specifies the configuration of the RMON groups after system initialization as well as after an on/off power cycle.

Table 2 Supported RMON Groups

RMON Group

Default Configuration

Effect of Power Cycle on Configuration

Ethernet Statistics

One session is provided for monitoring the Ethernet traffic passing through the hub stack.

Configuration lost.

Stats History

Three default sessions are provided:
o 60-second interval,
120 historical samples stored.
o 30-second intervals,
120 historical samples stored.
o 30-minute intervals,
96 historical samples stored.

Configuration lost.

Alarm

Default alarms are configured at start-up.

Configuration restored.

Event

Default events exist to describe 3Com "action-on-event'" system. User can create new events.

Configuration restored.

NOTE: After the default sessions are created, the alarms are active. The user can delete or change the alarm parameters as required.

For those resources created by the RMON agent itself during start-up, the owner string will be set to "monitor."

RMON Alarms

Version 2.0 of the flash EPROM software supports the RMON alarm feature. Alarms can be assigned by Transcend software or by any other SNMP network management software to monitor any counter. Consult the manual of the application you use for details of how to set up any of the 50 possible alarms supported by the SuperStack II Hub 100 Management Unit.

Each alarm monitors its assigned counter over a preset time interval. The alarm tracks high and low values and can take action when the value of the counter crosses preset thresholds.

Alarms can be set up with two actions---one associated with the high threshold and the other with the low threshold. Whether an action is taken depends on the circumstances surrounding each crossing of a threshold. Table 3 lists alarm actions associated with high and low thresholds.

Once alarms have been set up on a Management Unit, they are retained in nonvolatile RAM. If the Management Unit is moved to another hub stack, the alarm settings are preserved.

Table 3 Alarm Actions

Action

High Threshold

Low Threshold

No action

Notify only

Send trap.

Notify and disable port

Send trap. Turn port off.

Notify and blip port

Send trap. Turn port off. Turn port on after 5 seconds.

Notify and enable port

Send trap. Turn port on.

Blip port

Turn port off. Turn port on after
5 seconds.

Disable port

Turn port off.

Enable port

Turn port on.

Notify and switch resilient port

Send trap. If port is the main port of a resilient pair, then switch to the standby port.

Notify and blip unit

Send trap. Turn off all ports on unit. Turn ports back to original state after 5 seconds.

Notify and disable unit

Send trap. Turn off all ports on unit.

Notify and enable unit

Send trap. Turn unit ports back to original state.

Blip unit

Turn off all ports on unit. Turn ports back to original state after 5 seconds.

Disable unit

Turn off all ports on unit.

Reenable unit

Turn unit ports back to original state.

Using Alarms

See your network management application manual for instructions on setting alarms.

Each alarm defines actions to be taken when the alarm value rises above the high threshold or falls below the low threshold.

Two types of system alarms are automatically set up at initialization. These are:

o Percentage of Bandwidth Used

o Errors per 10,000 Packets

A pair of system alarms is set up for each detected hub (unit) as well as for the hub stack as a whole. The system alarms are part of the 50 possible alarms supported by the SuperStack II Hub 100 Management Unit.

The system alarms can be modified but cannot be created or deleted by a user. System alarms are reset to their default values whenever the hub stack is initialized. The default values are given in Table 4.

Table 4 Alarm Default Values

Parameter

Bandwidth Used

Errors per 10,000 Packets

High threshold level

15%

200

Low threshold level

10%

100

Samples per period

4

4

Period

15 seconds

15 seconds

Resilient Links

Resilient links add redundant function to your network. This feature protects against network disruption and data loss due to link failure. If a network link fails, all communication stops between devices on each side of the link. With resilient links you configure a main link on one port and a standby link on another port. The standby link takes over should the main link fail. The network appears to function normally to the user. At worst, a few frames are fragmented or lost. The main link and the standby link are called a resilient pair.

You can set up a maximum of 16 resilient link pairs on one hub stack. Any port on the repeater, whether front panel ports or transceiver interface module ports, may be used to make resilient pairs. A resilient pair can use different cabling. For instance, the main link can be a fiber port and the standby link a UTP port. When the pair is operating normally, the main port carries data to and from the network segment attached to the port. If the repeater detects a loss of link or loss of light (idle signal for the fiber-optic medium), the main port is disabled and the standby port takes over.

NOTE: The standby ports must be on repeater units that boot up with all ports disabled. In other words, the power-up disable option switches on the repeater units must be set in the D (disabled on boot) position. This action prevents creating a loop when the units are powered up. If you do not know how to set the power-up disable option switch, consult the user guide that came with the Hub 100 TX or Hub 100 T4 unit.

The resilient links feature is configured by using SNMP management software such as 3Com Transcend management software, or by using a VT100 or similar dumb terminal connected to the console port.

An event or trap is sent to the network management software when a main port has been disabled and a standby port has taken over. When the fault is cleared, you can set the main port back to active at any time through the software.

NOTE: The Management Unit can only recognize loss of link on a local port. Suitable application of an alarm can activate the resilience feature. If a port is receiving a number of errors, an alarm set on the error counter can trigger change-over to the standby port.

Repeater Resilience Form

The Repeater Resilience form (Figure 2) shows all the resilient link pairs that are currently configured for the hub stack (repeater). All the fields are read-only. The values displayed in this form are set in the Port Resilience form discussed in the next section.

Repeater Resilience Form Access

To access the Repeater Resilience form, proceed as follows:

1 From the Main Menu form, select REPEATER MANAGEMENT.

2 Press the [Space Bar] and select Repeater.

3 Select RESILIENCE.

To change the configuration of a resilient link, select the link and then select OK. The Port Resilience screen appears, showing details of the chosen link.

Figure 2 Repeater Resilience Form

Table 5 defines the fields in the Repeater Resilience form.

Table 5 Repeater Resilience Form Definitions

Field

Definition

MAIN

Unit

Identifier of the hub (unit) to which the main port belongs.

Port

Identifier of the main port.

STANDBY

Unit

Identifier of the unit to which the standby port belongs.

Port

Identifier of the standby port.

Pair State

State of the resilient link pair. Possible values are:

o Active---The link pair is enabled, and either the main port or the standby port is capable of carrying traffic.

o Both Failed---Although the link pair is correctly configured, both links have failed.

o Invalid---The state of the hub stack (repeater) has changed since the link pair was configured, and the link pair now does not conform to the resilient link rules (discussed in the later section Rules for Setting Up Resilient Links). For example, the power-up disable option switch of the unit with the standby port has been set to E (Enabled).

Active Port

Port carrying the traffic (main or standby).

Pair Enable

State of the resilient link pair (enabled or disabled).

o Enabled---Unless both links have failed, the link is operational.

o Disabled---Both the main and standby ports are disabled.

Cancel

Returns to Repeater Management form.

OK

Displays Port Resilience form.

Port Resilience Form

You can set up, delete, or reconfigure a resilient link pair (main link and standby link) with the Port Resilience form.

Port Resilience Form Access

To access the Port Resilience form, proceed as follows:

1 From the Main Menu form, select REPEATER MANAGEMENT.

2 Press the [Space Bar] and select Port.

3 Enter the unit and port identifier of the main port in the appropriate fields.

4 Select RESILIENCE.

The Port Resilience form appears, as shown in Figure 3.

Figure 3 Port Resilience Form

Table 6 defines the fields in the Port Resilience form.

Table 6 Port Resilience Form Definitions

Field

Definition

Main Unit ID

Identifier of the unit (hub) to which the main port belongs (read-only).

Main Port ID

Identifier of the main port (read-only).

Media Type

Media type of the main port (read-only).

Link State

Connection state of the main port (read-only).

Standby Unit ID

Identifier of the unit (hub) to which the standby port belongs. You can either enter the identifier of the chosen standby unit, or select a standby unit and port from the list box.

Standby Port ID

Identifier of the standby port. You can either enter the identifier of the chosen standby port, or select a standby unit and port from the list box.

Media Type

Media type of the standby port (read-only).

Link State

Connection state of the standby port (read-only).

Pair State

State of the currently active selected resilient pair, if any (read-only). Possible values are:

o Active---The link pair is enabled, and either the main port or the standby port is capable of carrying traffic.
o Not in use---The link pair is disabled.
o Both Failed--- Although the link pair is correctly configured, both links have failed.
o Invalid---The state of the hub stack (repeater) has changed since the link pair was configured, and the link pair now does not conform to the resilient link rules (discussed in the later section "Rules for Setting Up Resilient Links"). For example, the power-up disable option switch of the unit with the standby port has been set to "E" (Enabled).

Active Port

Designates which port is to carry the traffic (main or standby).

Pair Enable

Enables or disables the resilient link pair. If you disable a link pair, both the main and standby ports will be disabled.

Standby Links Available

Unit ID and Port ID of possible standby links for the selected main link. These are all the ports that were disabled on boot-up that are not already part of a resilient link pair. To select a standby link, use the arrow keys to select the desired link and then press [Enter]. The unit and port identifiers of the selected unit will be copied into the Standby Unit ID and Standby Port ID fields.

APPLY

Configures the resilient link pair and returns you to the previous form (either the Repeater Management form or the Repeater Resilience form).

DELETE

Deletes the resilient link pair specified in the Main Unit ID,
Main Port ID, Standby Unit ID, and Standby Port ID fields. You will be prompted to press [Enter] to confirm.

CANCEL

Returns you to the previous form (either the Repeater Management form or the Repeater Resilience form).

The standby ports must be configured to be disabled on boot-up, or they do not appear in the Standby Links Available field. That is, the power-up disable option switch of the Hub 100 T4 or Hub 100 TX units with the standby ports must be set to D.

Setting up Resilient Link Pairs

To configure resilient link pairs, proceed as follows:

1 Physically disconnect the cables of the standby port from the network.

2 Set up the resilient link pair from the Repeater Management form.

a Select the Port management level.

b Specify the unit and port for the main link.

c Select RESILIENCE to display the Port Resilience form.

You can now specify the standby unit and port. See Table 6 for a description of the fields on this form.

If the port you want to use as a standby port is not shown in the list box, the unit that contains the port is not disabling all ports upon boot-up. Set its power-up disable option switch to the D position, reset the unit, and begin this procedure again.

3 Reconnect the cable of the standby port to the network.

Reconfiguring and Deleting Resilient Link Pairs

Use either of the following methods to reconfigure or delete existing resilient pairs:

o From the Repeater Resilience form, select the resilient link pair you want to configure, and then select OK. The Port Resilience form appears. Use this form to modify resilient pairs.

o From the Repeater Management form, select the Port management level, and then specify either the main port's or the standby port's Unit and Port ID. Select RESILIENCE to display the Port Resilience form. Use this form to modify resilient pairs.

Rules for Setting Up Resilient Links

The following rules govern the setting up of resilient link pairs.

o Resilient link pairs can use ports on the same unit or on different units in the hub stack. Using ports on different units prevents the loss of both links should a single unit fail.

o The main and standby links can use different media (fiber or UTP).

o The standby port must be configured so that it is disabled on boot-up (that is, the power-up disable option switch on the unit must be set to D). This ensures that a loop is not created upon boot-up.

o The resilient link pair must be defined at only one end of the link.

o A resilient link pair can only be set up if neither of the ports is already part of another resilient link.

o The maximum number of resilient links per hub stack is 16.

o If a loss of link is detected, the main port is disabled and the standby port becomes the active port.

o If the main link becomes operational again, the management software does not automatically make the main port the active port. You must do this manually by setting the Active Port field on the Repeater Resilience form to Main.

Unauthorized Device Action

The Unauthorized Device Action option allows you to disable an unauthorized device. Configure this option with the Port Setup form (Figure 4). You can specify the action to be taken when an unauthorized device is detected on a port, as described in Table 7. The management software detects an unauthorized device when there is a change in the source address of frames or packets received by the port.

Accessing the Port Setup Form

To access the Port Setup form, proceed as follows:

1 From the Main Menu form, select REPEATER MANAGEMENT.

2 Press the [Space Bar] and select Port.

3 Enter the Unit ID and the Port ID.

4 Select SETUP.

5 Tab to the Unauthorized Device Action field and use the [Space Bar] to toggle through the field options, described in Table 7.

6 Select OK.

Figure 4 Port Setup Form

Table 7 Unauthorized Device Action Definitions

Field

Definition

Unauthorized Device Action

o Off---no action will be taken.
o Report Only---a trap will be sent every 10 seconds to notify the remote network management software that an unauthorized device is accessing the port.
o Disconnect and Report---a trap will be sent to the network management software, and the port will be disabled. Refer to the section "Port Setup Form" in Chapter 5 of the SuperStack II Hub 100 Management Unit User Guide for details on how to enable the port.

BootP Support

You can enable BootP support using the Management Setup form.
See Chapter 4 of the SuperStack II Hub 100 Management Unit User Guide
for a description of the Setup form.

Figure 5 Management Setup Form

When the Device IP Address field contains a null address (0.0.0.0) and BootP is enabled, BootP will download the IP address, the subnet mask, and the router IP address of the Management Unit from a BootP server on your network. These values are then written to the appropriate fields on the form. BootP checks for a valid IP address entered in the Device IP Address field before sending out requests for the data. BootP will continue sending requests for data until one of the three following conditions is satisfied:

o BootP is disabled.

o A valid BootP reply is received.

o You enter the address manually, select OK, and then perform a reset from the Main Menu form.

NOTE: When the IP parameters have been received, the Management Unit resets itself automatically. No management commands are possible while the Management Unit reboots and self-tests.

Remote Poll

by MAC or

IP Address

You can now poll a remote device using its MAC address if the remote device has an IP stack.

Enter the MAC address on the Remote Poll form as a 48-bit (6-byte) hexadecimal address.

See the section "Remote Poll" in Chapter 5 of the SuperStack II Hub 100 Management Unit User Guide for details on how to use the Remote Poll form.

Accessing the Remote Poll Form

To access the Remote Poll form, choose REMOTE POLL on the Main Menu form. (The Remote Poll function is accessible only at security levels 3, 4, or 5.)

Figure 6 Remote Poll Form

Changes to the User Interface Forms

The forms that follow are new or modified. Modified forms replace forms found in the SuperStack II Hub 100 Management Unit User Guide.

New Forms

These forms have been added to the user interface and are not found in the SuperStack II Hub 100 Management Unit User Guide.

Figure 7 Repeater Resilience Form

Figure 8 Port Resilience Form

Modified Forms

Table 8 lists the forms that have been modified in the 2.0 version of the flash EPROM software.

Table 8 Flash EPROM Version 2.0 Form Changes

Figure

Form Name in User Guide

Version 2.0 Form Name

Figure 9

Main Menu

Main Menu

Figure 10

Status

Status

Figure 11

Setup

Management Setup

Figure 12

System Loader

Software Upgrade

Figure 13

Remote Poll

Remote Poll

Figure 14

Port Setup

Port Setup

Figure 15

Security

User Access Level

Figure 16

Serial Port Setup

Console Port Setup