I've just been assigned to a new company to support their network. The server environment comprises of 2 networks; this equates to two network cards per server. First network is production traffic. The second goes to the IBM Tivoli for backup.
Production network consists of Cat6509s with Supervisors and MSFCs for layer 2/3. The Tivoli network uses separate Cat6509s running just Supervisors. Basically Layer 2 Vlans. Servers are assigned a particular Tivoli subnet and communicates with the main backup server of that respective subnet.
I've already been approached with a lot of FAQs. "we just lost connectivity, could you check if there's a connect status link to the switch?" "could you verify the IP address?"
With a Layer 3 device I could easily locate IP, MAC, and what port it is connected to. I'm given the server name > look up IP via DNS > do a 'show ip arp' on the router > get the MAC address output and do a 'show cam' on the switch. Voila! I know what port the switch is on. But in this network I can't.
Anyone has a network setup like this? How do you troubleshoot? Don't bother suggesting documentation, I've tried and I don't expect any helpful assistance.