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PowerEdge NIC Sleeps
I have a PowerEdge 1855 & a new PowerEdge 2950 server. Both are installed with Linux and I noticed that when the server is on idle for over 10-15 minutes, the server's NIC goes into a sleep mode or something. I can't ping or connect to the server by any means. I tried Red Hat Linux, Debian Linux, Ubuntu Linux, and Arch Linux. All have the same problem on both 1855 & 2950. I don't know why this happens but I know it's not the O.S. It happens on any version of Linux I have tried. The only way to fix it is to walk over to the server directly and login directly. Then I have to ping something like www.google.com or www.dell.com. Then the NIC wakes up and I can remote connect to the server. Also if the server is hosting web or email services, all those services are down when the NIC freezes.
Anyone know what is causing this? Please don't say drivers...drivers are built into the kernel and all versions of Linux utilize different versions of drivers for hardware.
I did notice I can keep this from occurring by forcing the server to continuously ping something.
reybeast1
347 Posts
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March 3rd, 2010 19:00
1855 has an intel nic, 2950 has a broadcom nic, so that rules out the nic firmware and its drivers. The common thread here is the linux based os, and it sounds like an ACPI based power management function is kicking in to power down the nic when not in use. Is there a command in linux to verify that the nic is "awake" and if so, there should be a command to prevent the nic from "sleeping" like Windows based OS's do.
mbo1974
1 Message
0
August 2nd, 2010 11:00
I have exactly the same problem with an PowerEdge R210. Did you finally manage toresolve the problem?
Thanks and Regards
Markus
Sandra.Colon
8 Posts
0
October 17th, 2010 17:00
Thanks for your explanation! Now I got it.