IP Network Multipathing in Shared-IP Zones

IP network multipathing (IPMP) provides physical interface failure detection and transparent network access failover for a system with multiple interfaces on the same IP link. IPMP also provides load spreading of packets for systems with multiple interfaces.

All network configuration is done in the global zone. You can configure IPMP in the global zone, then extend the functionality to non-global zones. The functionality is extended by placing the zone's address in an IPMP group when you configure the zone. Then, if one of the interfaces in the global zone fails, the non-global zone addresses will migrate to another network interface card.

In a given non-global zone, only the interfaces associated with the zone are visible through the ifconfig command.

See How to Extend IP Network Multipathing Functionality to Shared-IP Non-Global Zones. The zones configuration procedure is covered in How to Configure the Zone. For information on IPMP features, components, and usage, see Chapter 12, Introducing IPMP, in System Administration Guide: Network Interfaces and Network Virtualization.