The following key feature changes are related to network administration:
Generic datalink names – Oracle Solaris 11 assigns generic names to each datalink on a system by using the net0, net1, netN naming convention. See Chapter 2, Administering Datalink Configuration in Oracle Solaris, in Configuring and Administering Network Components in Oracle Solaris 11.2 .
Naming and directory services configuration – This configuration is managed through SMF rather than by editing various files within the /etc directory, as in Oracle Solaris 10 and previous releases. See Configuring Naming and Directory Services.
Network administration commands – The following three commands are primarily used to manage persistent network configuration:
dladm command – Manages datalink configuration, both physical and other types of datalinks. The dladm command also replaces the ndd command and drive.conf file for the configuration of certain network parameters (tunables).
ipadm command – Creates persistent configuration of IP interfaces and addresses. This command effectively replaces the ifconfig command for IP configuration. The ipadm command also replaces the ndd command for configuring certain network parameters (tunables). Chapter 5, Internet Protocol Suite Tunable Parameters, in Oracle Solaris 11.2 Tunable Parameters Reference Manual .
route command – Configures persistent routes. This command replaces the use of the /etc/defaultrouter file for managing a system route configuration.
Network security features – Oracle Solaris provides several new security features, as well as enhancements to several existing security features. See Network Security Features.
Network virtualization features – Oracle Solaris 11 provides several network virtualization features that you can use for high availability, managing network resources, and improving overall network performance, for example, aggregations, bridging technologies, virtual local area networks (VLANs), virtual network interface cards (VNICs), and virtual switches. See Network Virtualization and Advanced Networking Features.