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Written by: Justin James 6/10/2008 12:49 AM
I had a pretty harsh experience tonight. I have one of Intel's server grade NICs in my ISA server at work. It has a lot of IP addresses bound to the external adapter. We updated the NIC's driver due to some odd behavior we were seeing (some of the ports were not being detected sometimes after a cold boot). Well, the installer decided to pick one of the IP addresses assigned to each port to make the primary IP address, and to drop all of the other IP addresses bound to thew adapter. So instead of the 5 minutes of downtime we expected, I got to spend an hour re-typing the critical IP addresses, and another hour tomorrow typing in the non-critical IP addresses. Let this be a warning: if you plan on updating the drivers for your Intel NIC, plan on possibly needing to re-configure it afterwards! J.Ja
I had a pretty harsh experience tonight. I have one of Intel's server grade NICs in my ISA server at work. It has a lot of IP addresses bound to the external adapter. We updated the NIC's driver due to some odd behavior we were seeing (some of the ports were not being detected sometimes after a cold boot). Well, the installer decided to pick one of the IP addresses assigned to each port to make the primary IP address, and to drop all of the other IP addresses bound to thew adapter. So instead of the 5 minutes of downtime we expected, I got to spend an hour re-typing the critical IP addresses, and another hour tomorrow typing in the non-critical IP addresses. Let this be a warning: if you plan on updating the drivers for your Intel NIC, plan on possibly needing to re-configure it afterwards!
J.Ja
7 comments so far...
How many addresses can you bind to the NIC Sorry for your luck. We have had a few problems with Intel NICs here. I bind more than a couple addresses to a NIC here, but still, how many do you need?
How many addresses can you bind to the NIC
Sorry for your luck. We have had a few problems with Intel NICs here. I bind more than a couple addresses to a NIC here, but still, how many do you need?
Re: Beware of Intel NIC driver updates I've got around 50 bound to each of my two external NICs, but to the best of my knowledge, there is no upper limit. For us, we need a LOT, since it is a firewall, it needs to have the true public IP for all of our services on it.J.Ja
Re: Beware of Intel NIC driver updates
I've got around 50 bound to each of my two external NICs, but to the best of my knowledge, there is no upper limit. For us, we need a LOT, since it is a firewall, it needs to have the true public IP for all of our services on it.J.Ja
Isn't there... ... Some way of backing up the IP addresses (or at least the list as ',' data to be copied) then inserting those back into the new or up-dated NIC? I seem to remember something about doing so as a batch file job back in the dark ages. That being said, Those were the dark ages, and my fuzzy memory does sometimes play tricks on me. (That's fuzzy memory, not fuzzy logic) I can't find it at the moment, but maybe somewhere burried in the OSI archives there is some mention of the like. (or in the gray stuff inside my thick head) sorry. -d
Isn't there...
... Some way of backing up the IP addresses (or at least the list as ',' data to be copied) then inserting those back into the new or up-dated NIC? I seem to remember something about doing so as a batch file job back in the dark ages. That being said, Those were the dark ages, and my fuzzy memory does sometimes play tricks on me. (That's fuzzy memory, not fuzzy logic) I can't find it at the moment, but maybe somewhere burried in the OSI archives there is some mention of the like. (or in the gray stuff inside my thick head) sorry. -d
it's me again If you have the time, check this link out [ http://www.faq-o-matic.net/2007/09/07/den-isa-server-skripten/ ] while it isn't quite what I was thinking about, it comes close. (There's not as muzz in the gray stuff as I though.) It will involve scripting a simple command to store and retrive the settings. (as opposed to an old school batch file type action) Anyway I hope that You find something good in there that you can use. -d
it's me again
If you have the time, check this link out [ http://www.faq-o-matic.net/2007/09/07/den-isa-server-skripten/ ] while it isn't quite what I was thinking about, it comes close. (There's not as muzz in the gray stuff as I though.) It will involve scripting a simple command to store and retrive the settings. (as opposed to an old school batch file type action) Anyway I hope that You find something good in there that you can use. -d
Re: Beware of Intel NIC driver updates I think this one will help you more [ http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=B9ECFCD3-C13F-4447-83ED-ADD9A8EA45DB&displaylang=en ]After I went back, and was digesting the article, I realized it was in German. (duh, sorry, I forget things like that.) Any way this is from one of the links mentioned, and it's in English, and much closer to what I was talking about. It seems it won't help you now, but with this kit it will make the "Next Time" so much easier. -d(I knew it was out there somewhere. -d)
I think this one will help you more [ http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=B9ECFCD3-C13F-4447-83ED-ADD9A8EA45DB&displaylang=en ]After I went back, and was digesting the article, I realized it was in German. (duh, sorry, I forget things like that.) Any way this is from one of the links mentioned, and it's in English, and much closer to what I was talking about. It seems it won't help you now, but with this kit it will make the "Next Time" so much easier. -d(I knew it was out there somewhere. -d)
Re: Beware of Intel NIC driver updates Yeah, I already have something like that backing up the ISA server... the problem is the NIC's IP addresses (outside of the ISA server's config, sadly). The best/only programmatic way that I have found involves editing the registry, which I have never felt comfortable with. There might be a call I can make from a Windows Script to do it too, but it is one of those things where I can spend 45 minutes typing, or 3 hours researching & writing a script. Thanks though!J.Ja
Yeah, I already have something like that backing up the ISA server... the problem is the NIC's IP addresses (outside of the ISA server's config, sadly). The best/only programmatic way that I have found involves editing the registry, which I have never felt comfortable with. There might be a call I can make from a Windows Script to do it too, but it is one of those things where I can spend 45 minutes typing, or 3 hours researching & writing a script. Thanks though!J.Ja
Re: Beware of Intel NIC driver updates Hmm, that Microsoft link goes to a piece about manageing the ISA cache, are you sure that's the right one?J.Ja
Hmm, that Microsoft link goes to a piece about manageing the ISA cache, are you sure that's the right one?J.Ja
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