Subject: [USR-TC] two arcs

From: Charles Sprickman <[email-masked]>
Date: Wed, 31 Jul 2002 08:52:17 +0000

Hi,

I've been reading up on how to get two hiper arcs working, and there
appear to be numerous ways...

-static config where each arc owns half the cards
-dynamic config where the nmc decides who owns what
-variations on the above

Which one actually works?  I'm most interested in sharing the load, but an
automatic failover would be nice too.  I saw some old posts in the
archives that mention that in some failure modes (where the arc doesn't
fully fail but sticks in a reboot loop) the whole chassis basically takes
a dive as ownership flip-flops between two arcs.  Is that ironed out?

What version of arc code starts to support all this stuff well?

Thanks,

Charles

--
Charles Sprickman
[email-masked]

---

From: Lewis Bergman <[email-masked]>
Date: Wed, 31 Jul 2002 12:52:27 +0000

> What version of arc code starts to support all this stuff well?
I hope you get an answer because I asked the same question a couple of weeks 
ago. =)
-- 
Lewis Bergman
Texas Communications
4309 Maple St.
Abilene, TX 79602-8044
915-695-6962 ext 115

---

From: "Stephen Rivera - WRCA.Net" <[email-masked]>
Date: Wed, 31 Jul 2002 14:19:10 +0000

I have a little info for you guys on this...
example of a chassis with 12 quads, 1 DSP, 1 ARC and Netserver...for 
argument sake..

In example - netserver owns all quad modems and arc owns DSP.

Applicable modem commands are:
set modem startslot<1-24>
set modem density <all | slot#><4|24|30>

Example command: Static

Hiper ARC:
disable nmc chassis_awareness
set chassis slot 2-13 owner no
set chassis slot 14 owner yes

Netserver
set modem startslot 2
set modem density 14 24
set modem s1-48 active

save all
reset all

Dynamic allows NMC to handle the distribution of calls. Not sure but I 
think there was a need of modem pool tables to be designated...I think.

At 07:47 AM 7/31/2002 -0500, you wrote:
>_______________________________________________
>USR-TC mailing list
>[email-masked]
>http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/usr-tc

Steve Rivera  IM: srivera711
Toll Free: (877)WRCANET x102  DIRECT: 732-833-2034
Fax available equipment to: (732)833-2115
for more product info got www.wrca.net

---

From: Lewis Bergman <[email-masked]>
Date: Wed, 31 Jul 2002 08:40:05 +0000

> example of a chassis with 12 quads, 1 DSP, 1 ARC and Netserver...for
If I read him correctly, the commands and the sequence isn't the problem. I 
have found at least 8 examples in the docs and 5 more in the knowledgebase. 
The question is has anyone used some of these and what was the experience?
Is there a reason _NOT_ to use chassis awareness which some of the examples 
require. Is there a problem with dynamic assignment by the NMC.
Does the load balancing really work?
How about the redundancy?
Do the modems really transfer to the other HiperARC
If so how long does the process take?
Does one method transfer control quicker than another?

These are some of the questions that come to mind as I try to decide which of 
the examples to attempt.
-- 
Lewis Bergman
Texas Communications
4309 Maple St.
Abilene, TX 79602-8044
915-695-6962 ext 115

---

From: Todd Bertolozzi <[email-masked]>
Date: Wed, 31 Jul 2002 14:47:42 +0000

We have some older software rev's so I'm not sure what has changed but
usually on a fully loaded chassis I will disable NMC chassis awareness and
install 2 arcs.  I then configure 1 of the arc's to control the even
numbered slots and the other to control the odd numbered slots. If we loose
an arc I know about it via our monitoring system and can go in and setup the
other arc to control the entire chassis and move IP pools, ospf
sendpolicies, etc to the working card.  This obviously requires some human
intervention but rarely do we loose an arc.  We have more problems with the
DSP's.

Todd

-----Original Message-----
From: [email-masked]
[mailto:[email-masked]]On Behalf Of Lewis Bergman
Sent: Wednesday, July 31, 2002 10:35 AM
To: [email-masked]
Subject: Re: [USR-TC] two arcs - Examples

These are some of the questions that come to mind as I try to decide which
of
the examples to attempt.
--
Lewis Bergman
Texas Communications
4309 Maple St.
Abilene, TX 79602-8044
915-695-6962 ext 115

---

From: V <[email-masked]>
Date: Wed, 31 Jul 2002 23:35:42 +0000

Lets first talk about the versions of ARC code.  What is the version of ARC
code you are using, the answer depends on the arc code.

-V

---

From: Lewis Bergman <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu, 01 Aug 2002 03:42:04 +0000

V said:
> Lets first talk about the versions of ARC code.  What is the version of
> ARC code you are using, the answer depends on the arc code.
5.3.100 for me.
--
Lewis Bergman
Texas Communications
4309 Maple ST.
Abilene, TX 79602
915-695-6962

---

From: V <[email-masked]>
Date: Sat, 03 Aug 2002 03:37:18 +0000

Ok on the ARC you have three options.

NMC SETTINGS
Chassis Awareness:        DISABLED
Dynamic Slot Assignment:  DISABLED
DSA Idle Rebalancing:     DISABLED

If you have one ARC in the chassis, all you have to do is enable

Chassis Awareness and disable everything else.

If you have more than one ARC, you have two options.

Option 1

Disable everything and configure modems static

Option 2

Hot Stand by

In here you enable one arc to static to own all the modems and insert the
other ARC with NMC chassis awareness (all options enabled).  On the ARC
which owns all the modems static then enable all the three NMC options, save
all and do not reboot. What this does is if the arc that owns all the dsp
crashes (meaning if it does not come back after 5 min or more) the other
HiPer arc will take over all the DSPs.

The other options is to insert the first ARC card and enable all the options
under NMC and leave it own all the cards, once it does insert the second ARC
card with all the options enabled.  In this configuration, slowly all the
modems will be shared between cards over a period of time.

-V

---

From: Shawn Mitchell <[email-masked]>
Date: Sat, 03 Aug 2002 04:26:21 +0000

Sorry.. I'm very new to the 3Com equipment...

But can someone tell me the diff between the ARC and the NMC cards?

What do the NMC cards do?  What do the ARC cards do?

-----Original Message-----
From: [email-masked]
[mailto:[email-masked]]On Behalf Of V
Sent: Friday, August 02, 2002 10:37 PM
To: [email-masked]
Subject: Re: [USR-TC] two arcs

NMC SETTINGS

Option 1

Option 2

Hot Stand by

-V

---

From: Seth Jacobs <[email-masked]>
Date: Sat, 03 Aug 2002 05:11:04 +0000

The Arc is a router.  You have to have one.

The NMC cards are management cards.  They do things like SNMP, traps,
alarms, etc.  You don't actually have to have an NMC card in the chassis for
the chassis to take calls.

Seth

---

From: Shawn Mitchell <[email-masked]>
Date: Sat, 03 Aug 2002 05:32:33 +0000

Hummm....  Can the Edge Server take the place of the ARC?

-----Original Message-----
From: [email-masked]
[mailto:[email-masked]]On Behalf Of Seth Jacobs
Sent: Saturday, August 03, 2002 12:11 AM
To: [email-masked]
Subject: Re: [USR-TC] two arcs

Seth

---

From: Charles Sprickman <[email-masked]>
Date: Sat, 03 Aug 2002 06:51:29 +0000

On Fri, 2 Aug 2002, Seth Jacobs wrote:

> You don't actually have to have an NMC card in the chassis for

No, but I think if you have two arcs in the chassis and you're doing load
balancing (the last option V mentioned), you'll have problems if the NMC
goes away.

I'm fairly certain that any of the dual arc configs that are "dynamic"
rely on the nmc, and if you lose the nmc, you're out of luck.  In other
words you have a second single point of failure that you tried to avoid by
putting in a second arc. :)

It seems that the static config is the best, split the dsps up between two
arcs and if one fails (you do monitor the chassis, right :) ? ) you
manually take over the cards in the remaining arc.

Charles

---

From: Marshall Morgan <[email-masked]>
Date: Sat, 03 Aug 2002 08:22:17 +0000

Charles - I agree with you on this! ... it's not like I don't trust the code
or anything ... but better safe than sorry (KISS!)

Marshall Morgan

Internet Doorway, Inc (aka NETDOOR)
http://www.netdoor.com

601.969.1434 x28 | 800.952.1570 x28 | 601.969.3629 x28 | Fax 601.969.3838
----- Original Message -----
From: "Charles Sprickman" <[email-masked]>
To: <[email-masked]>
Sent: Saturday, August 03, 2002 1:51 AM
Subject: Re: [USR-TC] two arcs

> > > which owns all the modems static then enable all the three NMC
options,
> > save
> > > under NMC and leave it own all the cards, once it does insert the
second
> > ARC
> > > > > Lets first talk about the versions of ARC code.  What is the
version

---

From: Shawn Mitchell <[email-masked]>
Date: Sat, 03 Aug 2002 09:31:04 +0000

The TC I have, dosn't have any cards that's marked as ARC.

When I log into the Edge server and run some of the TC software, it see's
both of the DSP cards.  I know that this unit worked before it was pulled,
but they were doing Windows Authentication with it.  I found some software
called RAM, it was what athenticated them, but I can't find any options for
a RADIUS authentication.

So anyone have any ARC's they are willing to part with? :)

Also, what's up with V.92 on these TC units?

-----Original Message-----
[mailto:[email-masked]]On Behalf Of Charles Sprickman

Charles

---

From: V <[email-masked]>
Date: Sat, 03 Aug 2002 15:48:38 +0000

----- Original Message -----
From: "Charles Sprickman" <[email-masked]>
To: <[email-masked]>
Sent: Saturday, August 03, 2002 1:51 AM
Subject: Re: [USR-TC] two arcs

> balancing (the last option V mentioned), you'll have problems if the NMC
Yes this would be correct.  If you loose the NMC you will have serious
issues because you loose the chassis awarness messages.  Generally NMC is
petty stable product, avoid using it to generate a lot of traps and logs,
you will be fine else you may have to have a newer nmc 333.

> manually take over the cards in the remaining arc.
For normal operations static config is the best, for operations where you
need to have a back up (SLA or customer requirement) then you may want to
consider this load balace senario.

options,
second
version