opus:interactive | If These Servers Could Talk

We have standardized on HP servers and use blade servers whenever possible for our Managed client solutions.

The BL460c blades have a pair of embedded HP NC373i gigabit adapters. They have a Broadcom 5708 chipset.

Initially when we started using the C class blade servers in late 2006 we could not get networking to work under FreeBSD 6.2 RELEASE with the BL460c blade servers.

Once FreeBSD was installed it was not even seeing the “bce” adapters. We searched and searched and only found others with a similar problem.

HP doesn’t officially support FreeBSD on its gear so we could not get support there.

It also appeared that drivers had already been implemented for these adapters in an older release of FreeBSD so these “bce” adapters should work out of the box. Something done specifically with those adapters in the BL460c blade servers was causing issues.

The first step was for us to get a STABLE release of FreeBSD 6.2 several months later which apparently had further adapter driver updates as seen in CVS. We grabbed a STABLE iso image and after install the “bce” adapters were now visible and operational.

The second step was for us to configure 802.1q VLAN tagging on the NICs because of the way the blade chassis switches were uplinked to our network distribution layer. Left untagged with no VLANs the adapters wouldn’t communicate with the network.

VLAN tagging allows a single network interface to access multiple networks at the same time. The multiple VLANs are presented as individual “virtual” NICs to the operating system. Each virtual NIC can have its own IP configuration.

VLAN tagging is useful when your server needs to connect to multiple networks but has a limited number of physical network adapters, or when the physical adapters are “trunked” into a single interface for speed or redundancy.

The underlying protocol is 802.1q and the server operating system, network adapter and the connected switch must support the protocol. There is other functionality within 802.1q but here we are only concerned with VLAN tagging.

The switch port(s) connected must also be configured for VLAN tagging. I will not go into switch configuration or VLAN theory and planning here.

Although I did not test it, IPv6 settings should work as well when applied to the VLANs.

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Manual settings

The VLAN interfaces can be turned up and configured manually at the command line.

Create the VLANs:

# ifconfig vlan_device vlan vlan_id vlandev parent_device

vlan_device is a number you assign to the interface.
vlan_id is the VLAN number to use that is configured on the connected switch.
parent_device is the physical interface name this VLAN is running on.

Example

# ifconfig vlan0 vlan 101 vlandev fxp0

Assign IP settings:

# ifconfig vlan_device ip address netmask netmask

Example

# ifconfig vlan0 10.20.30.1 netmask 255.255.255.0

An ifconfig vlan0 or an ifconfig –a will now show a vlan0 interface with the assigned IP settings.

Remove:

# ifconfig vlan0 destroy

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Permanent settings

The following configurations will allow the VLANs to be setup at server boot time.

1.) Edit /etc/rc.conf

The cloned_interfaces parameter will create the desired VLAN interfaces:

cloned_interfaces=”vlan20 vlan30″

Add ifconfig lines for each vlan device:

ifconfig_vlan20=”inet 192.168.0.3 netmask 255.255.255.0 vlan 20 vlandev fxp0″
ifconfig_vlan30=”inet 172.17.16.3 netmask 255.255.255.0 vlan 30 vlandev fxp0″

If the physical interface will not have its own IP address assigned, bring it up explicitly:

ifconfig_fxp0=”up”

2.) Reboot the server to verify your configurations work at boot time.

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Notes:

– Whether configured manually or at boot time you should see a kernel module loaded for VLAN operation.

kldstat returns a list of loaded modules. You should see if_vlan.koin the list when using VLANs.

– It is good practice to avoid using VLAN ID 1 anywhere as it is usually reserved as the Primary/Native VLAN on switches.

– Not all NICs support 802.1Q VLANs - look for VLAN_MTU and VLAN_HWTAGGING options for your NIC in ifconfig. man vlan provides further info. I found though that my adapter (bce0) was not listed in man vlan but it did support the necessary options and worked with VLAN tagging.

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Older versions of FreeBSD

Older versions of FreeBSD may not load the kernel module automatically. In these cases you will need to modify your kernel to enable the VLAN tagging functionality.

To compile this driver into the kernel, place the following lines in your kernel configuration file:

device miibus
device vlan

- or add something like the following line to add the vlan devices directly into the kernel

pseudo-device vlan 2 # IEEE 802.1Q VLAN Support

Alternatively, to load the driver as a module at boot time, place the following line in loader.conf (/boot/loader.conf):

if_vlan_load=”YES”

Note: I did not test these kernel settings on older versions of FreeBSD myself. This was gleaned from other sources on the Internet.

Here are some key points to look for when shopping around for a provider.

Managed Servers and Colocation are hot topics throughout the northwest. If you have been exploring hosting options I’m sure the question “What is better dedicated managed servers or collocating servers?” has come to mind. I generally respond with 3 buckets to assist clients in there search for service. These buckets help identify what you need and from whom. They are “You Do”, “I Do” and “We Do”.

The first bucket is “You Do.” This bucket is as it sounds, that you want someone to take care of all your services. Generally speaking this is what is called a Managed Server Solution or Dedicated Server. You pay trained certified technicians to managed servers, operating systems, applications, database, firewalls, security, disaster recovery, data back etc all in a secure data center facility. This solution is really designed for those companies who don’t want the headaches and responsibility of managing the upkeep of servers. A good number of companies use this solution so they don’t acquire any assets the depreciate and have a life cycle of about 3 years. This solutions is more of a worries free and headache free solution. The “You Do” is growing rapidly as more and more companies want to focus on there core business and not have to worry about the technical side of things.

The Second bucket is “I Do.” This bucket is really designed for the do it yourselfers out there. Colocation space is really what you need. You rent space just like you might at the gym for a locker to put your clothes in. You have your clothes and you just need a safe place to put them while you work out. Colocation of servers is very similar. You rent secure space, power, cooling, and connectivity for your servers. The biggest advantages of doing this are network reliability and guaranteed uptime. Yes I know, there are a lot of companies that have servers under someone’s desk or in some back closet, but that being said, you are only as strong as your weakest link. What happens when your internet goes down, or you lose power? What about the security of someone coming into your office space, or on those really hot summer days that broom closet gets pretty hot? The answer is trouble. The cost for that is far more expensive than to rent space in a facility. Besides this way if something were to go wrong you have someone else to blame, and generally you receive refunds for any outages.

The final bucket is “We Do.” This is really the best in both worlds. It truly is the buffet of services. You pick what services you would like to add to your current, or new solution, and how much control, or level of responsibility, you wish to have. All three buckets are great because the features they address to each unique business.

Now the real big question is what provider should I pick? We’ll answer that question in our next entry. Stay tuned.

When the Portland Development Commission stepped up efforts to inform businesses about a program that rewards job creation with tax breaks, the businesses listened.

Before the push to educate the industrial community about the merits of investing in an enterprise zone covering much of North/Northeast Portland, the PDC had typically granted breaks to three of four new or expanding businesses per year in the 10 years since the zone was created.

This year, on the heels of an aggressive outreach effort with an assist from a strong economy, the enterprise zone program has added 10 companies and expects to add 12 more by the end of the year, said PDC’s Seth Hudson, senior economic development manager and manager of the North/Northeast Enterprise Zone.

Among the new participants to sign on this year: Advanced American Construction, Oregon Steel Mills and Oregon Transfer Co.

The zone currently has 20 active participants who together intend to invest $222.4 million in new buildings and equipment. They will generate 2,100 new jobs and receive an estimated $12.4 million break on property taxes that would have been assessed on the new value of their businesses. The tax breaks last for five years.

The zone hit another milestone this year with the addition of a special “e-commerce zone” overlay, which rewards Internet-oriented companies with income tax breaks for investing in computers, software and related gear.

It gained its first customer, Opus Interactive, which has spent $662,000 on new facilities and a data center in recent months.

Portland’s enterprise zone isn’t the only one to prosper in the past year. There are 55 such enterprise zones scattered across the state and activity is on the rise in most of them, said Art Fish, business incentives coordinator for the Oregon Economic and Community Development Department.

Enterprise zones are a legal construct created by the state to spur business investment. They are implemented locally by cities and counties.

In essence, the enterprise zone program gives manufacturers a temporary property tax break for investing in new buildings and equipment if the investment results in new, well-paying jobs.

The zones typically are situated in economically distressed areas with an industrial bent. The e-commerce zone gives income tax breaks to Internet-oriented companies like Opus Interactive that invest in software, computers and network gear.

According to an annual report on the program issued this week, enterprise zones have generated 5,884 new jobs, 53 percent more than a year ago. Fish expects the numbers to climb in the next few years as projects in development are completed and business operations begin.

“We’re looking at on the order of a 50 percent jump,” he said.

In Portland, the North/Northeast zone covers an area bordered by Interstate 205 and Forest Park to the east and west, and by the Columbia River and I-84 to the north and south. It was amended this year to include Opus Interactive, which is in Northwest Portland.

The biggest new investment in Portland is Oregon Steel Mills, which plans to spend $72 million on new facilities and to add 390 people to its payroll. In exchange, it will get a $3.69 million break on its property taxes.

Not every newcomer is as large as Oregon Steel. The class of 2006 includes Triad Mechanical, which will invest $500,000 and add 29 employees, for a tax break worth a little less than $28,000.

Actual Article (must have Biz Journal Subscription to read full article online): Biz Journal