Cisco Catalyst 5000 FDDI Software

[Zach Lowry]

I've been hard at work, and my FDDI education project is coming along  
quite nicely. I'm jumpstarting a DAS SS20 off of my Jumpstart server  
on the Ethernet Segment, which was surprisingly easy to do. I have  
one stumbling block, though. It seems the Catalyst 5000 FDDI software  
is distributed separately from the Supervisor software. Poking  
through Cisco's site and FTP, I can't find it anywhere. Is this  
something I need a CCO account to get? Or is it even available anymore?

Thanks!

--Zach
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[Dan Sikorski]

Zach Lowry wrote:
> I've been hard at work, and my FDDI education project is coming along
> quite nicely. I'm jumpstarting a DAS SS20 off of my Jumpstart server
> on the Ethernet Segment, which was surprisingly easy to do. I have one
> stumbling block, though. It seems the Catalyst 5000 FDDI software is
> distributed separately from the Supervisor software. Poking through
> Cisco's site and FTP, I can't find it anywhere. Is this something I
> need a CCO account to get? Or is it even available anymore?

Which supervisor do you have, and what version of CatOS?  As i recall,
my cat5k recognized the fddi module without having to do anything with it.

    -Dan Sikorski
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[Zach Lowry]

On May 24, 2008, at 11:33 PM, Dan Sikorski wrote:

> Zach Lowry wrote:
>> I've been hard at work, and my FDDI education project is coming  
>> along quite nicely. I'm jumpstarting a DAS SS20 off of my  
>> Jumpstart server on the Ethernet Segment, which was surprisingly  
>> easy to do. I have one stumbling block, though. It seems the  
>> Catalyst 5000 FDDI software is distributed separately from the  
>> Supervisor software. Poking through Cisco's site and FTP, I can't  
>> find it anywhere. Is this something I need a CCO account to get?  
>> Or is it even available anymore?
>
> Which supervisor do you have, and what version of CatOS?  As i  
> recall, my cat5k recognized the fddi module without having to do  
> anything with it.
>

I have a Supervisor 3, and CatOS 6.4(22). It *recognizes* the FDDI  
module, but the bridging doesn't seem to be translating the fram size  
between the 4352 MTU FDDI segment and the 1500 MTU 10/100 segment.  
When I mount something via NFS with the client on  FDDI and the  
server on 10/100, the server never sees any packets, nor does the  
SPAN port on teh 10/100 segment. No interface in the loop shows any  
errors, switch side or client side, except on the client.

caterpillar.in.zachlowry.net -> cheshire.in.zachlowry.net UDP IP  
fragment ID=64443 Offset=0    MF=1
caterpillar.in.zachlowry.net -> cheshire.in.zachlowry.net UDP IP  
fragment ID=64443 Offset=4328 MF=0

If I set the MTU on the client to 1500, everything works fine. So, it  
appears to me that the bridge on the FDDI module is dropping the  
frames. That, or the C1400 concentrator is. But I can't find any  
documentation on what size frames the C1400 will support.

Apparently, the latest version of the Cisco Catalyst 5000 Software is  
3.2.2. [0] Upgrading to the latest *should* allow me to check the  
module off the list of potential problems.

[0] http://www.cisco.com/en/US/docs/switches/lan/catalyst5000/modules/ 
fddi/78_3828.html
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[Dan Sikorski]

Zach Lowry wrote:

> I have a Supervisor 3, and CatOS 6.4(22). It *recognizes* the FDDI
> module, but the bridging doesn't seem to be translating the fram size
> between the 4352 MTU FDDI segment and the 1500 MTU 10/100 segment.
> When I mount something via NFS with the client on  FDDI and the server
> on 10/100, the server never sees any packets, nor does the SPAN port
> on teh 10/100 segment. No interface in the loop shows any errors,
> switch side or client side, except on the client.
>
> caterpillar.in.zachlowry.net -> cheshire.in.zachlowry.net UDP IP
> fragment ID=64443 Offset=0    MF=1
> caterpillar.in.zachlowry.net -> cheshire.in.zachlowry.net UDP IP
> fragment ID=64443 Offset=4328 MF=0
>
> If I set the MTU on the client to 1500, everything works fine. So, it
> appears to me that the bridge on the FDDI module is dropping the
> frames. That, or the C1400 concentrator is. But I can't find any
> documentation on what size frames the C1400 will support.
>

You have a newer supervisor and newer CatOS than I do, so I'm suprised
that this doesn't just work for you.  I think there are others that
could offer a more complete answer here (if i'm misunderstanding, or
just plain wrong on anything, please correct me), but my understanding
is that the catalyst 5000 does not actually fragment the >4k packets
from FDDI to 1500byte packets for the ethernet segment.  Doing so would
cause all sorts of mess to the higher layer protocols contained in the
frame.  Instead, what should happen is that a host on the FDDI network
should do path MTU discovery to figure out what size packets to sent
out, and when talking to a host on the ethernet network, only send out
1500byte packets.  I don't have any hosts on my FDDI network right now,
so i can't do any meaningful testing, but as i recall, you should be
able to do some testing with ping -s and determine if path mtu discovery
is working properly.

    -Dan Sikorski
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[Zach Lowry]

On May 27, 2008, at 6:33 PM, Dan Sikorski wrote:
> You have a newer supervisor and newer CatOS than I do, so I'm  
> suprised that this doesn't just work for you.

But likely an older version of the FDDI software on the FDDI module,  
which is bundled separately from the Supervisor software. Could you  
send a 'show module' for your FDDI module?

> I think there are others that could offer a more complete answer  
> here (if i'm misunderstanding, or just plain wrong on anything,  
> please correct me), but my understanding is that the catalyst 5000  
> does not actually fragment the >4k packets from FDDI to 1500byte  
> packets for the ethernet segment.  Doing so would cause all sorts  
> of mess to the higher layer protocols contained in the frame.  
> Instead, what should happen is that a host on the FDDI network  
> should do path MTU discovery to figure out what size packets to  
> sent out, and when talking to a host on the ethernet network, only  
> send out 1500byte packets.  I don't have any hosts on my FDDI  
> network right now, so i can't do any meaningful testing, but as i  
> recall, you should be able to do some testing with ping -s and  
> determine if path mtu discovery is working properly.

I believe the Cisco FDDI module is supposed to handle the  
disassembly / reassembly for me. From [0]:

IP fragmentation allows the switch to fragment large FDDI IP frames  
(frames greater than 1514 bytes) into multiple smaller packets so  
that they can be transmitted on an Ethernet segment. IP fragmentation  
is enabled by default.

I don't recall ever being on a network where PMTU worked correctly,  
which could be because of something silly I've done repeatedly in  
breaking it. :)

[0] http://www.cisco.com/en/US/docs/switches/lan/catalyst5000/catos/ 
6.x/configuration/guide/fddi.html#wp1020136

Thanks,

--Zach
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[Dan Sikorski]

Zach Lowry wrote:
> On May 27, 2008, at 6:33 PM, Dan Sikorski wrote:
>> You have a newer supervisor and newer CatOS than I do, so I'm
>> suprised that this doesn't just work for you.
>
> But likely an older version of the FDDI software on the FDDI module,
> which is bundled separately from the Supervisor software. Could you
> send a 'show module' for your FDDI module?
>
Cat5k> (enable) show module
Mod Module-Name         Ports Module-Type           Model    Serial-Num
Status
--- ------------------- ----- --------------------- --------- ---------
-------
1                       2     100BaseTX Supervisor  WS-X5009  006342947
faulty
2                       2     MM MIC FDDI           WS-X5101  007640097 ok
3                             Gigabit Ethernet Ext  WS-X5410  021230167
4                       9     Gigabit Ethernet      WS-X5410  021230167 ok
5                       24    10/100BaseTX Ethernet WS-X5234  014589615 ok

Mod MAC-Address(es)                        Hw     Fw         Sw
--- -------------------------------------- ------ ----------
-----------------
1   00-10-1f-a6-18-00 to 00-10-1f-a6-1b-ff 2.3    2.2(2)     4.5(4)
2   00-e0-1e-e5-0b-35                      1.3    2.1        3.2(2)
4   00-e0-1e-7c-5a-18 to 00-e0-1e-7c-5a-23 1.2    4.2(5)     5.5(3)
5   00-d0-bc-03-8c-28 to 00-d0-bc-03-8c-3f 1.0    4.5(2)     4.5(4)

Mod SMT User-Data              T-Notify CF-St    ECM-St    Bypass
--- -------------------------- -------- -------- --------- -------
2   WorkGroup Stack            30       thru     in        absent
Cat5k> (enable)


    -Dan Sikorski
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[Zach Lowry]

On May 27, 2008, at 9:50 PM, Dan Sikorski wrote:

> Cat5k> (enable) show module
> Mod Module-Name         Ports Module-Type           Model    Serial-
> Num Status
> --- ------------------- ----- --------------------- ---------  
> --------- -------
> 1                       2     100BaseTX Supervisor  WS-X5009  
> 006342947 faulty
> 2                       2     MM MIC FDDI           WS-X5101  
> 007640097 ok
> 3                             Gigabit Ethernet Ext  WS-X5410  
> 021230167
> 4                       9     Gigabit Ethernet      WS-X5410  
> 021230167 ok
> 5                       24    10/100BaseTX Ethernet WS-X5234  
> 014589615 ok
>
> Mod MAC-Address(es)                        Hw     Fw         Sw
> --- -------------------------------------- ------ ----------  
> -----------------
> 1   00-10-1f-a6-18-00 to 00-10-1f-a6-1b-ff 2.3    2.2(2)     4.5(4)
> 2   00-e0-1e-e5-0b-35                      1.3    2.1        3.2(2)
> 4   00-e0-1e-7c-5a-18 to 00-e0-1e-7c-5a-23 1.2    4.2(5)     5.5(3)
> 5   00-d0-bc-03-8c-28 to 00-d0-bc-03-8c-3f 1.0    4.5(2)     4.5(4)
>
> Mod SMT User-Data              T-Notify CF-St    ECM-St    Bypass
> --- -------------------------- -------- -------- --------- -------
> 2   WorkGroup Stack            30       thru     in        absent
> Cat5k> (enable)

Ah, see, you have the latest version! If only we could figure out a  
way to trade. :) I don't think there's any way to download the  
software *off* the module, only *onto* it.

Mod MAC-Address(es)                        Hw     Fw         Sw
--- -------------------------------------- ------ ----------  
-----------------
3   00-60-2f-33-a9-10                      1.0    1.1        1.5
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[Dan Sikorski]

Dan Sikorski wrote:
> --- ------------------- ----- --------------------- ---------
> --------- -------
> 1                       2     100BaseTX Supervisor  WS-X5009  
> 006342947 faulty

I should add that it shows faulty because i have one of the power
supplies turned off.  It has a noisy fan and a lazy owner.

    -Dan Sikorski
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