Network Definitions

At network definitions it is possible to configure the following network interface parameters:

• Interface: Interface name;
• Type: Private (for eth0) or public for the others;
• Mode: Inferface mode can be static or for the public interfaces it's possible to configure the interface as dynamic, so it will act as a DHCP client;
• IP: Interface IP address with the correspondent network bit mask;
• Network: Network address;
• Broadcast: Network broadcast IP;
• Aggregate network interface cards: If some addicional NIC's are available, the ethernet bonding can be configured;
• MAC Address: Physical address of NIC.

The parameter state will show the physical link state:

• Green: The link is OK;
• Red: The link is DOWN;

The Modify will change these parameters. The Insert will add a new IP alias for the interface. Example: eth0:1, eth0:2.

If IPBrick works as an Intranet server (IPBrick.I), it is only necessary to configure the private interface. The public interface may get all the default configurations and it shall not have a network cable connected.

If the server has more network cards (ETH2, ETH3...), they are listed as private but no rules will be added automatically to the firewall. This means that all traffic for that new interfaces will be denied.

If IPBrick works like a Communications server (IPBrick.C) or if it accumulates the Intranet and Communications functions (IPBrick.I + IPBrick.C), it is necessary to configure the two network interfaces (in these two situations, the server where IPBrick was installed, shall have two network cards).

To change the network interfaces definitions, it's necessary to click ETH0 and ETH1.

The network cards aggregation (bonding) option can provide failover, load-balance and link speed increase. To get a good experience with bonding the switch were the network cards are connected must support IEEE 802.3ad Dynamic link aggregation (Figure 7.2).

For configuration this steps must be followed:

• Have one interface (ex: eth2) present but not configured yet;
• Click at the interface to bond (ex: eth0) and choose to aggregate network interface cards;
• Choose the NIC's MAC addresses of eth0 and eth2 interfaces;
• Click Modify, so the eth0 will be bounded with eth2 and became only one interface - eth0.

NOTE: The private interface is the first network card detected by IPBrick in the server where it was installed. If the server has a second network card, this shall be configured as a public interface. The firewall is already configured by default with specific rules to recognize the ETH0 as a private interface and ETH1 as a public interface. If the server has more network cards (ETH2, ETH3...), they shall be considered as private;

NOTE: The ethernet cards MAC address should be associated to all the interfaces, so when the server reboots the interfaces will be always associated to the same NIC.