Help gather Layer 2 mac and ip

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.

Reply to
brickwalls19
Loading thread data ...

I don't understand "why" you can't.

We have a 6509 and I can do what you said;

ping 192.168.0.1 arp -a | find "192.168.0.1" show cam 00-50-66-66-66-66

-- output shows ifindex, so; sho port ifindex 4/20

and there is the interface that device is on.

We have multiple networks including multiple VLANs on this 6509....

Reply to
edavid3001

I think he is saying that its a non-routable network segment for backup (very similar to a SAN). If you don't have layer 3 addressing, your only hope is putting together a list of MACs and matching that up with you CAM table, and then setting the name of the ports. Make sure you have proper logging on to show drops and reconnects and thats probably about all you can do.

On another note, I'm fairly certain that Tivoli does not require a non- routable separate network, and that addresses could be assigned, or better yet, placed on your production side 6509s but in separate VLANs. The 6500s should have no problem with the backplane traffic, and you may just want to make sure you have gig-bounded etherchannel between your cores. Probably some good cost savings there......everyone loves an engineer who reduces costs...lol.

If I'm wrong in understanding, please fill in the gaps and I'll do my best to help.

Reply to
Trendkill

Ah, so the ping would fail since it's not routed. If you have SNMP turned on the dual homed servers, you could use SNMP to enumerate the NIC's and their MAC addresses. You can enumerate the second NIC through the first NIC.

If your servers are not all the same (different vendors) a show cam and then drop it in

formatting link
show you the vendor. So if one is an IBM and one is an HP, this would help you narrow it down a little.

Reply to
edavid3001

Cabling-Design.com Forums website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.