Configuring and Using IPMP in the Service Domain

Network failure detection and recovery can also be set up in a Logical Domains environment by configuring the physical interfaces in the service domain into a IPMP group. To do this, configure the virtual switch in the service domain as a network device, and configure the service domain itself to act as an IP router. (Refer to the Solaris 10 System Administration Guide: IP Services for information on setting up IP routing).

Once configured, the virtual switch sends all packets originating from virtual networks (and destined for an external machine), to its IP layer, instead of sending the packets directly by means of the physical device. In the event of a physical interface failure, the IP layer detects failure and automatically re-routes packets through the secondary interface.

Since the physical interfaces are directly being configured into a IPMP group, the group can be set up for either link-based or probe-based detection. The following diagram shows two network interfaces (e1000g0 and e1000g1) configured as part of an IPMP group. The virtual switch instance (vsw0) has been plumbed as a network device to send packets to its IP layer.

Figure 7–5 Two Network Interfaces Configured as Part of IPMP Group