Make VLAN tagging modular to avoid downtime
Summary: Shared Ethernet adapters (SEAs) can be used for IEEE 802.1Q VLAN tagging. However,
once the SEA is in use, you cannot make changes to the VLANs on the trunk virtual Ethernet
adapter without stopping the SEA. By using separate virtual adapters for each tagged VLAN,
you can attach a new virtual adapter with its new VLAN to the SEA without any downtime.
Retiring a VLAN from the SEA can be just as easy with a modular approach: one tagged
VLAN per virtual adapter.
The problem and goal:
You have a shared Ethernet adapter (SEA) with VLAN tagging that services mission-critical
websites. A new website requires an additional VLAN to be attached to the SEA. Outages
are difficult to arrange. You can not use dynamic logical partitioning (DLPAR) to add VLANs
to an existing virtual adapter on the SEA, because the adapter is in use as part of the
SEA configuration.
