Has anybody tried using the e0P port on a FAS2040 for use with System Manager or DFM? Since the port is basically of no use until 7.3.4 goes GA for many customers I'd be interested in knowing if anybody has converted that port over to a management port in the meantime? I haven't tried (will be doing so tomorrow) and was wondering if anybody knew if it would work or not. It would be convenient if System Manager, if that's the management tool of the future, would be intelligent enough to use the system console redirection capabilities of the RLM or BMC to manage since not all boxes in production today have a convenient e0M port like the 31xx series. Not everybody is willing to give up a GbE data port for management unfortunately. Any thoughts?
Just an update for anybody that might be interested - brought the e0P online via ifconfig, but apparently that port doesn't handle data communications unless there's a changeable option somewhere. Couldn't get it to respond to a ping nor would it respond to an http request (attempting to see if FilerView would respond on it). Looks like e0P is a no go unless I missed something.
e0P on the FAS2040 can be used with ONTAP 7.3.2 or above (AFAIK) and is used for the private network connectivity between the NetApp storage controller and the new DS4243 disk shelf. This private network is known as the ACP (Alternate Control Path) and provides enhanced management capabilities with the new SAS based disk shelf.
Is there a particular reason you are looking to use e0P for storage management via System Manager or DFM rather than the BMC port (which is the port to the right of the e0P on the FAS2040 controller)?
You are absolutely correct on the purpose of the e0P port. However, System Manager cannot manage down the BMC port - it can only configure its settings. So unfortunately System Manager requires one of ports e0a - e0d to be part of some sort of front-end or management network (where an end-user would have their workstation or mgmt server). I was hoping that e0P could be reconfigured to function as a management NIC instead of doing ACP functionality and have System Manager communicate with the system on that port. Unfortunately it didn't work out like I had hoped.
