FTOS Configuration Guide for the C-Series - Force10 Networks

Figure 111 Configuring mac-address-table station-move refresh-arp Command
MAC: A:B:C:D A:B
IP: 1.1.1.1
Microsoft Clustering
Microsoft Clustering allows multiple servers using Microsoft Windows to be represented by one MAC
address and IP address in order to provide transparent failover or balancing. FTOS does not recognize
server clusters by default; it must be configured to do so.
Default Behavior
X
mac-address-table station-move refresh-arp
configured at time of NIC teaming
Move MAC
address
Active Link
Port 0/1
Port 0/5
fnC0026mp
When an ARP request is sent to a server cluster, either the active server or all of the servers send a reply,
depending on the cluster configuration. If the active server sends a reply, the Force10 switch learns the
active server’s MAC address. If all servers reply, the switch registers only the last received ARP reply, and
the switch learns one server’s actual MAC address (Figure 112); the virtual MAC address is never learned.
Since the virtual MAC address is never learned, traffic is forwarded to only one server rather than the
entire cluster, and failover and balancing are not preserved (Figure 113).
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