Hp COMPAQ PROLIANT 5500, COMPAQ PROLIANT 4000, COMPAQ PROLIANT 1500, COMPAQ PROSIGNIA 720, COMPAQ PROSIGNIA 740 PCI Hot Plug Expand Feature on Compaq Servers in Novell NetWare Environments
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Integration Note
November 1998
ECG026/1097
PCI Hot Plug Expand Feature on
Prepared by Novell Integration
Compaq Computer Corporation
Contents
Executive Summary ...................3
Introduction to PCI Hot Plug......4
PCI Hot Plug Components .........5
PCI Hot Plug/NetWare
Installation..................................6
PCI Hot Plug/NetWare
Integration..................................7
NICs, Redundant NIC Pairs,
and Upgrade Concepts .............. 9
SCSI Upgrade Concepts........... 10
Non-Hot Plug-able SCSI .........11
Addition of Controllers and
Drives.....................................11
Disk System Replacement .......12
Summary................................12
Step by Step Detail of the
Procedure...............................13
Performing Hot Plug Actions
with NetWare............................13
Discussion on Drivers .............15
Hardware Requirements .........16
Software Requirements...........16
Contingencies ..........................17
Tips...........................................18
Handling a Failed
Replacement..........................20
PCI Hot Plug
Troubleshooting......................20
Novell Configuration
Manager Error Messages........20
Removing an Adapter Error
Messages...............................20
Adding an Adapter Error
Messages...............................22
Replacing an Adapter Error
Messages...............................23
Glossary...................................25
Compaq Servers in Novell
NetWare Environments
Abstract: PCI Hot Plug technology is a very exciting and new
technology focused on increasing server availability. Compaq
servers and drivers combine with Novell’s NetWare environments to
provide a solid PCI Hot Plug solution. This newest feature, PCI Hot
Plug Expansion, truly shifts the paradigm.
The expand feature of the PCI Hot Plug so greatly extends the
functionally provided by the earlier replace technology, that a very
careful examination is warranted. Superficially, the expand feature
not only allows new hardware to be added but also extends the
replace functionality to include replacement by dissimilar
technologies. When combined with duplexing, mirroring, and
pairing, the expand feature opens a completely new world of
opportunity to provide non-stop service, while upgrading, doing
maintenance, repairing, building, or migrating server components.
Help us improve our technical communication. Let us know what you think
about the technical information in this document. Your feedback is valuable
and will help us structure future communications. Please send your
comments to: Novell.Feedback@Compaq.com
PCI Hot Plug Expand Feature on Compaq Servers in Novell NetWare Environments 2
Notice
The information in this publication is subject to change without notice and is provided “AS IS” WITHOUT
WARRANTY OF ANY KIND. THE ENTIRE RISK ARISING OUT OF THE USE OF THIS
INFORMATION REMAINS WITH RECIPIENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL COMPAQ BE LIABLE FOR
ANY DIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, PUNITIVE OR OTHER DAMAGES
WHATSOEVER (INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION, DAMAGES FOR LOSS OF BUSINESS
PROFITS, BUSINESS INTERRUPTION OR LOSS OF BUSINESS INFORMATION), EVEN IF
COMPAQ HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES.
The limited warranties for Compaq products are exclusively set forth in the documentation accompanying
such products. Nothing herein should be construed as constituting a further or additional warranty.
This publication does not constitute an endorsement of the product or products that were tested. The
configuration or configurations tested or described may or may not be the only available solution. This test
is not a determination or product quality or correctness, nor does it ensure compliance with any federal
state or local requirements.
Product names mentioned herein may be trademarks and/or registered trademarks of their respective
companies.
Compaq, Contura, Deskpro, Fastart, Compaq Insight Manager, LTE, PageMarq, Systempro, Systempro/LT,
ProLiant, TwinTray, ROMPaq, LicensePaq, QVision, SLT, ProLinea, SmartStart, NetFlex, DirectPlus,
QuickFind, RemotePaq, BackPaq, TechPaq, SpeedPaq, QuickBack, PaqFax, Presario, SilentCool,
CompaqCare (design), Aero, SmartStation, MiniStation, and PaqRap, registered United States Patent and
Trademark Office.
Netelligent, Armada, Cruiser, Concerto, QuickChoice, ProSignia, Systempro/XL, Net1, LTE Elite,
Vocalyst, PageMate, SoftPaq, FirstPaq, SolutionPaq, EasyPoint, EZ Help, MaxLight, MultiLock,
QuickBlank, QuickLock, UltraView, Innovate logo, Wonder Tools logo in black/white and color, and
Compaq PC Card Solution logo are trademarks and/or service marks of Compaq Computer Corporation.
Microsoft, Windows, Windows NT, Windows NT Server and Workstation, Microsoft SQL Server for
Windows NT are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation.
NetWare and Novell are registered trademarks and intraNetWare, NDS, and Novell Directory Services are
trademarks of Novell, Inc.
Pentium is a registered trademark of Intel Corporation.
Copyright ©1998 Compaq Computer Corporation. All rights reserved. Printed in the U.S.A.
PCI Hot Plug Expand Feature on Compaq Servers in Novell NetWare Environments
Integration Note prepared by Novell Integration
First Edition (November 1998)
Document Number ECG026/1097
ECG026/1097
PCI Hot Plug Expand Feature on Compaq Servers in Novell NetWare Environments 3
Executive Summary
Compaq Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI) Hot Plug servers are available, and they
implement the industry-standard PCI Hot Plug technology. Compaq helped develop this
technology as an extension to the PCI specification. Virtually all--old and new--PCI cards work
with the expansion capability and preserve your investment.
Upgrading online can now become routine.
For example when upgrading a disk system:
• Use the hot plug expand capability to connect the new controller
• Create volumes on the new drives
• Enable mirroring to replicate the data on the new disk system
• Break the mirror and default to the new disk system
• Remove the old disk system
• Add these old drives to the new system
Everyone and everything continues working during the process.
A detailed demo of this disk system upgrade/migration is available in the Compaq White Paper
"PCI Hot Plug Expand and Fibre Channel Migration in Novell NetWare Environments,"
ECG104/0998 at http://www.compaq.com/support/techpubs/whitepapers/.
Upgrading online to higher performance Network Interface Cards (NICs) for example, from 10
Mb/s to 100 Mb/s, is simple and non-disruptive. For a non-duplexed NIC, a single, free slot
allows a new NIC to establish service. For duplexed NIC pairs, two free slots are required to
establish the new service pair for the first network link. In both cases, the new NIC(s) are inserted
before the older cards are removed to ensure server availability on the network. Repeating the
process for each pair of NICs or each unpaired NIC on the server, provides an upgrade path
where no one is ever left without service. Everyone and everything continues working during the
process.
The most important features of these high-end servers are high reliability and fault tolerance. PCI
Hot Plug greatly increases the server’s ability to operate continuously, by providing the ability to
expand, replace, and remove components, while the server remains available to users. No power
down, restarting, nor rebooting of the server is required. Virtually all of the clients actively
using the server continue to work uninterrupted, unaware of the upgrade or repair. Controllers and
devices can be added or replaced in this manner. On enterprise class servers, downtime is very
expensive, and the goal of PCI Hot Plug is to eliminate downtime. With the advent of PCI Hot
Plug with Hot Expand, everyone and everything continues working during the process.
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PCI Hot Plug Expand Feature on Compaq Servers in Novell NetWare Environments 4
Introduction to PCI Hot Plug
Compaq has been working for some time with key hardware and software partners to define and
develop PCI Hot Plug technology as an open, industry-wide standard. This open standard allows
addition, removal, and replacement of the PCI cards plugged into the Hot Plug slots of the PCI
bus(es) while the server continues to run and provide service to clients without interruption. The
goal of PCI Hot Plug technology is to eliminate downtime associated with adding, removing, and
replacing PCI adapters.
IMPORTANT: Expand is the new functionality being added to PCI Hot Plug. An earlier name
for expand is add. These terms are presently interchangeable.
The PCI Hot Plug specification is an extension to the original Peripheral Component Interconnect
(PCI) Local Bus Specification. One of the key features of the new standard is the compatibility
with existing PCI adapters. The fact that PCI Hot Plug is an open, industry-wide standard protects
your network investment:
• Better availability of products due to multiple sources for the product
• Better integration of products due to multiple vendors supplying interoperable products
• Less risk for your investment since current products that meet the original PCI
specification will continue to be produced, and future products will be developed to the same
standard
• Lower price for future products, due to both increased competition and larger markets
there is virtually no risk associated with this new technology.
Everyone wins with this type of open standard.
On any server, but especially on enterprise-class servers, the costs from the loss of productivity
due to a failed component can be enormous. When used in conjunction with fault-tolerant tools
(such as Redundant NICs, RAID controllers, Recovery Server options, and hot replaceable SCSI
drives), PCI Hot Plug is an important tool for high availability.. The fault tolerant tools keep the
server running when the failure occurs, and the PCI Hot Plug high-availability feature allows the
failed board to be replaced without interrupting access. When a redundant board in a Hot Plug
slot fails, there is no downtime. This is a result of the excellence that comes from matching
complementary technologies: high availability and fault tolerance.
IMPORTANT: When a fault tolerant component in a PCI Hot Plug slot fails, there is virtually
no downtime.
Following is a high-level example showing the advantages of the PCI Hot Plug adapter expansion
capability. When the primary NIC of a controller pair fails, switching to the secondary NIC
adapter occurs automatically, and the server continues to run. The administrator is notified by the
server of the NIC’s failure and then can
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• Get a new NIC to replace the failed adapter.
• Open the PCI bus access coverplate.
• Turn off power to the selected slot by either of the following:
• Selecting the slot, from the Hot Plug main menu, which contains the NIC to be replaced,
and then choosing to remove the NIC.
PCI Hot Plug Expand Feature on Compaq Servers in Novell NetWare Environments 5
• Or, on second-generation hot plug servers, pressing the service request button associated
with the failed card.
If your server is the second generation of the PCI Hot Plug servers, then there is a service
request button associated with each slot. These buttons are located just above the release lever
of each card slot, inside the access coverplate, on the back of the server. This button can be
used to indicate to the system that service for the slot is being requested. This button can be
used either in place of the console menus, or in conjunction with them.
Either of these steps will unload the device’s driver, and then power off the slot. The status of
the power down is updated on the main menu display and the slot’s LEDs.
Once the slot's green LED goes out to indicate no power, continue.
• Remove the failed NIC.
• Replace it with the new one.
• Power up the slot and card and reload the device’s driver.
• On a second-generation server, power up the slot by pushing the service request button.
• Or, on servers without the service request button, manually power up the slot from the
Hot Plug main menu.
The server will then be back at full health.
Duplexed disk adapter cards are replaced the same way.
PCI Hot Plug Components
A hot plug capable system requires
• PCI Hot Plug aware hardware
• Operating system supporting PCI Hot Plug: NetWare 4.11 and later, and NetWare 5.0.
• NetWare Peripheral Architecture (NWPA) compatible storage device drivers
• Open Data-Link Interface (ODI) version 3.3 for LAN drivers and protocols
An existing adapter board will be hot plug-able, if it is in compliance with the established PCI
specification and has hot plug device driver support. To ensure hardware support and
compatibility, each of the following hardware components must be provided for each PCI Hot
Plug expansion slot:
PCI Expansion Boards – Most existing PCI expansion boards are fully functional in any system
that has hot plug capabilities. However, for an existing PCI board to be hot plug capable, the
board must meet all PCI Hot Plug specification guidelines. In addition, in order for hot plug to be
functional, the device also needs software support, including hot plug-aware (NWPA or ODI
v3.3) device drivers.
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PCI Hot Plug Expand Feature on Compaq Servers in Novell NetWare Environments 6
Note: Some apparently fully functional PCI boards, which work in non-Hot Plug machines, may
fail in PCI Hot Plug machines due to their not complying completely with the PCI specification.
Specifically, some manufacturers did not implement the power-level sensing on two of the PCI
pins, but defaulted to using the bus' pull-up resistors. This will cause a failure on PCI Hot Plug
systems on which these pins are used to determine whether a card is present or not. By installing
the card and not relying on the auto sensing of the software , a workaround is possible. In this
way, an otherwise unusable card can be finessed into working.
IMPORTANT: Use Compaq PCI Hot Plug drivers to avoid problems.
Slot Release Lever – The slot release lever holds the boards in the I/O expansion slots. When the
lever is closed, the hot plug driver can apply power to the slot through the operating system
software. If the lever is opened, power is removed from the slot.
CAUTION: You should always turn off power to the slot before opening the lever.
Expansion Slot LEDs – Each PCI Hot Plug slot has two LED indicators above the slot release
lever. When the green LED is on, it indicates power has been applied to the slot. When it is off,
there is no power applied to the slot. The amber LED indicates that a condition has been detected
that requires corrective action for normal operation to continue, such as a problem with the slot,
the board, or the device driver.
PCI Slot Service Request Button − This feature is available only on the newer generation of
PCI Hot Plug Servers. Pressing the button signals the software that attention is needed. Use of
this button is optional. The same functionality is provided through the software interface, but this
request button is easier to use. Each slot has its own button indicating which slot is to be
addressed by the supporting software. The power state of the slot and of the presence or not of a
board determine the action performed, when the service request button is pressed. Table 1 below
shows the actions that occur when the service request button is pressed.
Table 1 Logic Table for Service Request Button
Power- Off Power-On
Board Present Software powers on the slot,
checks and identifies the
board, and automatically loads
or enables the device drivers
Board Not Present No Action No Action
PCI Hot Plug/NetWare Installation
PCI Hot Plug should be installed using the latest version of the SmartStart CDs available from
Compaq. PCI Hot Plug is not by default an option loaded during installation and must be selected
in the options for the SmartStart setup.
Software unloads or disables
drivers and powers off the slot
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PCI Hot Plug Expand Feature on Compaq Servers in Novell NetWare Environments 7
PCI Hot Plug/NetWare Integration
Novell Configuration
Manager Console
Novell Event Bus
Novell Configuration
Manager
PCI Expansion Board
System Hot Plug Hardware
Figure 1. Novell NetWare Hot Plug Architecture
ODI NWPA
LAN Driver Storage Driver
Installation
Tools
Other NetWare
Loadable Modules
OEM Specific
System Bus
Driver
The PCI Hot Plug architecture, shown above in Figure 1, leverages the inherent modularity of
NetWare to minimize changes required of third-party adapter board software. The system relies
on a new central component, the Novell Event Bus, which facilitates communications between
different software modules. The Event Bus is implemented as a NetWare Loadable Module
(NLM), allowing implementation of PCI Hot Plug on existing versions of NetWare.
Listed below are the components of the PCI Hot Plug architecture for NetWare:
• Novell Event Bus (NEB)
• Novell Configuration Manager (NCM)
• Compaq OEM-Specific System Bus Driver (CPQSBD)
• Novell Configuration Manager Console (NCMCON)
• Device drivers
• ODI-compliant network boards
• NWPA-compliant storage device boards
• Installation tools
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PCI Hot Plug Expand Feature on Compaq Servers in Novell NetWare Environments 8
Novell Event Bus
The central component of the PCI Hot Plug software architecture is the Novell Event Bus Module
(NEB.NLM). This module facilitates communication between the administrator, the software
modules, management agents, and device drivers, providing the foundation for the software
architecture. The Event Bus is implemented for the time being as an NLM, allowing
implementation of PCI Hot Plug on existing versions of NetWare 4.11 and later, and 5.0. Future
versions will integrate the Event Bus into the operating system.
Novell Configuration Manager
For PCI Hot Plug servers, the Novell Configuration Manager (NCM.NLM) manages the hot plug
system and ensures proper system behavior. Its primary function is to sequence hot plug
operations to ensure stability of the system. To achieve this function, the Configuration Manager
properly shuts down a board's device driver before removing power from the slot. The
Configuration Manager also maps hardware resources to device driver software. Future releases
of NetWare will have an enhanced Configuration Manager to encompass other technologies in
addition to PCI Hot Plug.
System Bus Driver
Compaq is providing a system bus driver specific to the PCI Hot Plug hardware implementation.
The System Bus Driver (CPQSBD.NLM) abstracts the platform-specific implementation of PCI
Hot Plug in the ProLiant family of servers. This driver controls the system hardware necessary to
perform hot plug functions and is responsible for the following:
• Enabling or removing power from a hot plug slot upon request.
• Configuring hardware and assigning resources like memory, I/O ports, and interrupts for PCI
boards in hot plug slots.
Novell Configuration Manager Console
The Novell Configuration Manager Console (NCMCON.NLM) is necessary to perform hot plug
functions in NetWare systems. This NLM provides the interface for controlling all hot plug
operations. In addition, it displays slot configuration details, including board driver information
and status.
The Configuration Manager Console consists of two screens: the Main Menu and Slot Detail
Information screen. The Main Menu displays a list of all PCI slots in the system.
For each slot, the Main Menu displays the following information:
• Slot number
• Slot hot plug status
• Product name or description of the board
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• Status of the slot/board
The Slot Detail screen displays information about a specific slot and the board in that slot. This
information includes the following:
• Slot number
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