This article answers the question What is Progammable MUX (PMUX) mode on the Dell Networking Force10 M IO Aggregator switch?
What is Programmable MUX (PMUX) mode?
Starting with 9.3.0.0 firmware to present. PMUX is a mode the provides flexibility of operation with added configurability. This involves creating multiple LAGs, configuring VLANs on uplinks and the server side, configuring data center bridging (DCB) parameters, and so forth.
Here are some of the features available.
- Multiple uplink link aggregation group (LAGs)
- Uplink failure detection (UFD)
- VLAN configurations on a physical port/port-channel
- Virtual Link trunking (VLT)
- Stacking
- Data Center Bridging (DCB)
- N-port identifier virtualization (NPIV)
By default, IOA starts up in IOA Standalone mode. You can change to PMUX mode by executing the following commands and then reloading the IOA.
Configuring and Changing to PMUX Mode
1. Connect to the switch and enter the following commands:
Login: username
Password: *****
Dell> enable
Dell#
Dell# show system stack-unit 0 iom-mode
Unit Boot-Mode Next-Boot
------------------------------------------------
0 standalone standalone
Dell#
2. Change IO Aggregator mode to PMUX mode.
Dell(conf)# stack-unit 0 iom-mode programmable-mux
3. Delete the startup configuration file.
Dell# delete startup-config
4. Reboot the IO Aggregator by enter the reload command.
Dell# reload
After system is up, you can see the PMUX mode status:
Dell# show system stack-unit 0 iom-mode
Unit Boot-Mode Next-Boot
------------------------------------------------
0 programmable-mux programmable-mux
Dell#