Have a Netgear GS748T 48 port Gigabit switch which connects to
(amongst other things) a G5 Xserve (10.4.3) with both 1Gb ports
aggregated and a HP Pro Server running Win Server 2003 again with two
1Gb Ethernet ports aggregated (or "teamed" to use their terminology).
The switch was in its default state apart from being named and an IP
address being assigned.
Both the HP and the Xserve were happy and used their aggregated / teamed ports.
Tried to add a new G5 PowerMac 2.3Ghz DC running 10.4.3 workstation
and things went a bit weird. Each of the individual G5 ports could be
connected happily but aggregating them into one resulted in the
Xserve generating "Missing Link" and "Wrong Group" errors.
Everything is running on CAT 6.
Following some suggestions from James (including RTFM in a nice way),
I did the following:
1. Upgraded the firmware on the switch.
2. Established three "trunks" of two ports each (33 & 34, 37 & 38 and
41 & 42) and plugged the PC , the Xserve and the G5 into each set
respectively. All three trunks need to be in the same VPN and by
default all the ports on the switch start off in the same VPN so
therefore the trunks should be OK.
Results to date:
With the Switch reconfigured (and the G5 off and unplugged), the PC
was happy but the Xserve still generated "Wrong Group" errors.
With the Switch reconfigured (and the G5 on and plugged into the
LAN), the PC was happy but the Xserve still generated "Wrong Group"
and or "Missing Link" errors.
With the Switch configuration changed so that the trunk assigned to
the Xserve was removed (and the G5 off and unplugged), both the PC
and Xserve were happy.
With the Switch configuration changed so that the trunk assigned to
the Xserve was removed (and the G5 on and plugged into the LAN), the
PC was happy but the Xserve still generated "Wrong Group" and or
"Missing Link" errors.
With the Switch configuration changed so that the trunk assigned to
the Xserve and the one assigned to the G5 were removed (and the G5
off and unplugged), both the PC and Xserve were happy.
With the Switch configuration changed so that the trunk assigned to
the Xserve and the one assigned to the G5 were removed (and the and
the G5 on and plugged into the LAN), the PC was happy but the Xserve
still generated "Wrong Group" and or "Missing Link" errors.
With the Switch configuration changed so that the trunk assigned to
the Xserve and the one assigned to the G5 were removed (and the and
the G5 on and plugged into the LAN but only using a single connection
- no aggregation), both the PC and Xserve were happy.
At this point I reached for my trusty Xserve support agreement and
rang the 1800 number (these things are worth their weight in gold and
personally I think they should just be incorporated into the price of
the Xserve - but I digress. Needless to say at 1:30 am its nice to
have someone to talk to and get an answer from).
The Apple Tech suspects its a clash between Netgear's interpretation
of the standard and Apple's and they have escalated it.
So currently the PC is using a trunk, the Xserve isn't and both are
happy with aggregated ports and the G5 is running just using a single
port.
Not sure when I'll get an answer due to the holiday there but I'll
keep you posted.
Thanks to James and Dan for their constructive comments to date on this.
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