Requirements, Functionality, Lldpad – Dell Intel PRO Family of Adapters User Manual
Page 22: Lldptool dcbtool
Within the Data Center, the perception is that traditional Ethernet has high latency and is prone to losing frames, rendering it
unacceptable for storage applications.
In an effort to address these issues, Intel and a host of industry leaders have been working on addressing these problems.
Specifically, within the IEEE 802.1 standards body there are a number of task forces working on enhancements to address
these concerns. Listed below are the applicable standards bodies:
Enhanced Transmission Selection
IEEE 802.1Qaz
Lossless Traffic Class
Priority Flow Control: IEEE 802.1Qbb
Congestion Notification: IEEE 802.1Qau
DCB Capability exchange protocol: IEEE 802.1Qaz
The software solution that is being released represents Intel's implementation of these efforts. It is worth noting that many of
these standards have not been ratified - this is a pre-standards release, so users are advised to check Sourceforge often.
While we have worked with some of the major ecosystem vendors in validating this release, there are many vendors which
still have solutions in development. As these solutions become available and standards get ratified, we will work with
ecosystem partners and the standards body to ensure that the Intel solution works as expected.
Requirements
RHEL 6 or later or SLES 11 SP1 or later.
Linux kernel version 2.6.29 or later.
Linux ixgbe driver (for Intel® 82599-based and X540-based adapters) from kernel 2.6.29 or later.
2.6.29 or newer version of the "iproute2" package should be downloaded and installed in order to obtain a multi-queue
aware version of the 'tc' utility.
Check for new versions at:
Version 2.5.33 of Flex should be installed (to support iproute2). SLES10 is known to have an older version of Flex. The
An up to date netlink library needs to be installed in order to compile lldpad.
Intel® 82599-based, X540-based, or X710-based adapter.
Functionality
lldpad
Executes the Link Layer Discovery Protocol (LLDP) over all supported interfaces.
Executes the DCB capabilities exchange protocol to exchange DCB configuration with the peer device using LLDP.
Supports the versions of the DCB capabilities exchange protocol described here:
Pre-CEE version: <no link available>
>
IEEE Version: IEEE Std 802.1Qaz-2011 <no link available>
Retrieves and stores DCB configuration to a configuration file.
Controls the DCB settings of the network driver based on the operation of the DCB capabilities exchange protocol.
Interaction with a supporting network driver is achieved via DCB operations added to the rtnetlink interface in kernel
2.6.29.
Supports the following DCB features: Enhanced Transmission Selection, Priority Flow Control, FCoE, and FCoE Logical
Link Status.
Provides an interface for client applications to query and configure DCB features. Generates client interface events when
the operational configuration or state of a feature changes.
lldptool
dcbtool
Interacts with dcbd via the client interface.
Queries the state of the local, operational and peer configuration for the supported DCB features.
Supports configuring the supported DCB features.
Interactive mode allows multiple commands to be entered interactively, as well as displaying event messages.
Enables or disables DCB for an interface.