C H A P T E R 1

Introduction

This chapter includes the following sections:

Overview of Netra CT Server Software

System Administration Tasks

Overview of Netra CT Server Software

The Netra CT server software can be categorized as follows:

Operating systems and applications

Firmware

Network support

The software is described in TABLE 1-1 and represented logically, with the hardware, in FIGURE 1-1.

TABLE 1-1 Netra CT Server Software for System Administrators
Category	Name	Description
Operating Systems and Applications	Solaris Operating System (OS)	The Solaris OS runs on the host and satellite CPU boards. It is installed by the user.
	Command-line interface (CLI)	The CLI is the primary user interface to the alarm card.
	Managed Object Hierarchy (MOH)	Management application that monitors and manages the field-replaceable units (FRUs) in your system. It provides support for high-availability services and applications.
	Processor Management Service (PMS)	Management application that provides support for high-availability services and applications, such as the Netra High Availability (HA) Suite.
Firmware	OpenBoot PROM firmware	Firmware on the host and satellite CPU boards that controls booting. It includes diagnostics.
	Embedded firmware	Embedded firmware runs on the alarm card. It manages the Netra CT server, that is, most components connected to the midplane. It is factory installed.
	Boot control firmware (BCF)	Firmware on the alarm card that performs power-on self-test (POST) and controls booting of the alarm card software.
	Baseboard management controller (BMC) firmware	Baseboard management controller firmware enables communication over the Intelligent Platform Management Interface (IPMI) controller on the alarm card.
	System management controller (SMC) firmware	System management controller firmware enables communication over the IPMI controller on CPU boards.
Network Support	MCNet	MCNet is a communication channel over the cPCI midplane. It can be used to communicate between the alarm card, the host CPU board, and any MCNet-capable satellite CPU boards for exchanging system management information.

Note - The Netra High Availability (HA) Suite may be used to provide enhanced services for customer high-availability applications. It is required to use certain monitoring capabilities of the MOH application, such as monitoring nfs and tftp daemons. When installed, the software runs on the host and satellite CPU boards. The Netra HA Suite is ordered and shipped separately from the Netra CT server.

In the Netra CT server, the alarm card manages most of the components connected to the midplane. The host CPU board accepts and owns peripherals, such as I/O boards or disks; it runs user applications and distributes tasks within a system. In a Netra CT server, each CPU board (including satellite and host CPU boards) runs its own copy of the Solaris OS, and each is therefore considered a server; the alarm card, plus the CPU boards and the other system FRUs, make up a system. There can be several systems in one chassis.

The Netra CT server accepts the Netra CP2140 or the Netra CP2500 as the host CPU board.

The hardware interfaces include the Intelligent Platform Management Interface (IPMI), the CompactPCI (cPCI) bus, and the PCI interface (PCI i/f) on the alarm card, host CPU boards, and satellite CPU boards.

FIGURE 1-1 Logical Representation of Software and the Hardware Interfaces in a Netra CT Server

Diagram showing various software and hardware interfaces in the Netra CT server.

System Administration Tasks

Netra CT server system administration typically includes installation, configuration, and administration tasks.

Solaris administration on the Netra CT server, including adding Solaris user accounts, is performed by logging into the host or satellite CPU board. Netra CT server administration is performed by logging into the alarm card and using the alarm card command-line interface. The alarm card can be used as the single point of entry in the Netra CT system for configuration and administration purposes.

System administration tasks are described in the following chapters.