IPMI help for a newbie

[ethereal]

I had a X9SCL-F motherboard and the IPMI was broken.
My server has crashed and failed to start again. I have purchased a new X9SCL-F.
The new board should have a functioning IPMI. It has been years since I setup and
used an IPMI.

Hopefully someone will help me.
I thought it would be easy enough and I would just have to plug the network cable into the IPMI
but it only has 100 Mb/s. So I'll need to plug the network cable into LAN1 as this is a GB.

My plan is to setup the IPMI using using a static IP address and Failover.

So I have three questions
1. With the IPMI set to Failover and my LAN cable connected to LAN1 will I be able to use IPMI when
no cable is connected to the dedicated IPMI LAN?

2. If I make the IPMI address 192.168.1.110 is this the address I use with IPMIView?

3. Will I need another IP address to access FreeNAS?

Thank you hopefully this is clear.

 

[Patrick M. Hausen]

Yes, yes and yes.

 

[Spearfoot]

1. With the IPMI set to Failover and my LAN cable connected to LAN1 will I be able to use IPMI when no cable is connected to the dedicated IPMI LAN?

I don't know, as I don't use failover for my IPMI setups. But this issue doesn't need to be so complicated.

There is no reason not to connect your IPMI port to what I assume is a 1Gb/s port on your switch. Most modern switches will negotiate a lower-speed connection at 100Mb/s.

You would use the LAN port(s) on your motherboard for FreeNAS, at a different IP address. Neither FreeNAS, nor any other operating system you install on this board, will have access to or be able to use the dedicated IPMI port.

Best practice for security's sake is to put IPMI connections on a separate subnet. But this isn't a requirement and for home use probably isn't necessary.

2. If I make the IPMI address 192.168.1.110 is this the address I use with IPMIView?

Yes

3. I will need another IP address to access FreeNAS?

Yes -- and on an a different ethernet port (see above).

In short: plug your IPMI and LAN ports into your switch, assign unique IP addresses to both, use the LAN port for FreeNAS.

 

[ethereal]

I don't know, as I don't use failover for my IPMI setups. But this issue doesn't need to be so complicated.

There is no reason not to connect your IPMI port to what I assume is a 1Gb/s port on your switch. Most modern switches will negotiate a lower-speed connection at 100Mb/s.

You would use the LAN port(s) on your motherboard for FreeNAS, at a different IP address. Neither FreeNAS, nor any other operating system you install on this board, will have access to or be able to use the dedicated IPMI port.

Best practice for security's sake is to put IPMI connections on a separate subnet. But this isn't a requirement and for home use probably isn't necessary.

Yes

Yes -- and on an a different ethernet port (see above).

In short: plug your IPMI and LAN ports into your switch, assign unique IP addresses to both, use the LAN port for FreeNAS.

the dedicated IPMI LAN is 100 and LAN1 is 1000. This why I will use LAN1. the router is 1000

 

[Patrick M. Hausen]

I use the shared port setup with Supermicro - works as designed. If you wanted to use the dedicated IPMI port, you would have to connect both, because that one is for IPMI only while LAN1 is also available for FreeNAS. It's not either - or.

 

[danb35]

I would just have to plug the network cable into the IPMI
but it only has 100 Mb/s.

Why is this a problem? The IPMI port is never handling a significant amount of data, so that line speed is plenty.

Edit: You can accurately think of the IPMI controller as its own little computer. So it should have its own network connection and its own IP address. It won't affect traffic (or traffic speed) from your FreeNAS box in any way.

 

[Spearfoot]

the dedicated IPMI LAN is 100 and LAN1 is 1000. This why I will use LAN1. the router is 1000

Router or switch, it makes no difference: either will negotiate a 100Mb/s connection with your IPMI port.

As @Patrick M. Hausen points out, you can use a single LAN port w/ the failover feature, if that's what you want to do. My point is that you aren't compelled to just because the IPMI port is only 100Mb/s.

You can set it up however you like: separate or combined connections for the LAN and IPMI. I always separate these on my systems.

 

[ethereal]

the reason i didn't want to use just the ipmi was i didn't want it to slow down the transfer of files. 100 vs 1000 and i want to use 1 cable

 

[danb35]

the reason i didn't want to use just the ipmi was i didn't want it to slow down the transfer of files. 100 vs 1000

It won't slow anything down. The only data that gets transferred over that interface is data relating to IPMI--so that web interface, the remote KVM, etc. It has nothing to do with your FreeNAS data transfer; in fact, the FreeNAS system can't even use that interface.

 

[ethereal]

i only want to use 1 cable

 

[Samuel Tai]

IPMI has nothing to do with file transfers. Think of it as a robot that sits at the server console, and uses its camera to show you the screen, and echoes your keystrokes/mouse clicks to the server.

Most IPMIs run with 2 interfaces: one physically separate from the main system (out-of-band) and one that's bridged into the main LAN interface (in-band). In the IPMI web interface, you can disable the in-band interface to preclude any possibility of interference with the main LAN interface.

 

[danb35]

i only want to use 1 cable

Then you have to use the LAN1 port in any case; the speed of the interface has nothing to do with it. FreeNAS can't use the IMPI port; that's a dedicated port for only IPMI use.

But why is it important that you only use one cable?

 

[Samuel Tai]

i only want to use 1 cable

That's doable, but not considered best practice with IPMI. You really want to have a separate cable to the IPMI interface (out-of-band), in case the system locks up the main LAN in-band interface.

 

[ethereal]

IPMI has nothing to do with file transfers. Think of it as a robot that sits at the server console, and uses its camera to show you the screen, and echoes your keystrokes/mouse clicks to the server.

Most IPMIs run with 2 interfaces: one physically separate from the main system (out-of-band) and one that's bridged into the main LAN interface (in-band). In the IPMI web interface, you can disable the in-band interface to preclude any possibility of interference with the main LAN interface.

that is very confusing language me. i have huntingtons disease

 

[ethereal]

Then you have to use the LAN1 port in any case; the speed of the interface has nothing to do with it. FreeNAS can't use the IMPI port; that's a dedicated port for only IPMI use.

But why is it important that you only use one cable?

because i can and it makes things simpler for me

 

[Yorick]

because i can and it makes things simpler for me

That ... but .... it ....

You do you bro :)

 

[Samuel Tai]

A graphical example will help. Here's my IPMI:

The IPMI can communicate over either port 3 (out-of-band) or either ports 4/7 (in-band).

In the IPMI web interface:

The pulldown for "Share LAN" means to configure the side of the IPMI that uses the server's LAN interfaces (in-band). "Dedicate LAN" means to use the physically separate dedicated port 3, which the server doesn't see and can't access.

 

[pschatz100]

@Patrick M. Hausen had the right answer several posts ago. Don't overthink this. Use one cable in Lan1 and life will be just fine.

Just make certain IPMI, FreeNAS, and other apps like Plex each have a unique IP address and you will be good to go.

 

[ethereal]

@Patrick M. Hausen had the right answer several posts ago. Don't overthink this. Use one cable in Lan1 and life will be just fine.

Just make certain IPMI, FreeNAS, and other apps like Plex each have a unique IP address and you will be good to go.

that was my thinking entirely