18-544 Network Design and Evaluation
Tools and Setup

Fall 2005

1 Station Configuration

1.1 General Setup

The figure below shows the basic hardware setup. It consists of the ENP-2611 board hosted by a Linux PC. Two other Linux PC's have additional network interface cards (NIC's) that connect them to the ENP-2611, so they function as hosts on the teaching network. Besides the 3 Linux PC's, each team has access to a Windows 2000 PC that runs the Intel development environment (i.e., the Workbench). Each machine is also connected to the ECE departmental network for access to remote file systems, the Web, etc.

$\includegraphics[scale=0.5]{figs/setup.pstex}$

The ENP-2611 runs an embedded Linux kernel on the XScale processor. The Linux PC that hosts the card runs a DHCP daemon allowing for automatic boot-time configuration of the ENP-2611, which is connected by crossover cable to an additional NIC on the Linux host. This setup permits the Linux kernel on the ENP-2611 to access an NFS service provided by the hosting PC, giving it access to disk storage even though there is no on-board disk.

1.2 ENP-2611 Platform Details

The development platform used in this course is the IXP2400-based ENP-2611 board from RadiSys. Chapter 1 of the ENP-2611 Hardware Reference (pages 1-6) provides a very nice overview of the board. Chapter 3 (pages 13-40) may be of interest as well. Note: this information is provided for your reference only, as the boards and all accompanying software have been set up for you.

2 Software Setup

For your convenience, you may install the development environment and ipv4_enp2611 project code on your own Windows PC or laptop. This is not strictly necessary, since a copy of the Workbench has been installed on the Windows 2000 host at your lab station. Note that this software belongs to Intel and can only be used for educational purposes (i.e., this course). It should not be distributed to people not registered for the course without explicit permission.

2.1 Developer's Workbench and The Software Framework

There are two CD's you can install on your Windows PC: the ``Intel IXA SDK 3.51 Tools'' and the ``Intel IXA SDK 3.51 Software Framework.'' You must install the CD's in this order and accept all of the default settings. When installing the ``Software Framework'' CD, you will see a warning to the effect of the ``Firmware and Drivers'' CD not having been installed--ignore it and continue with the installation.

Note: On the ``Tools'' CD, the file setup.exe resides in the top level directory. On the ``Software Framework'' CD it is in the Windows subtree.

2.2 The `ipv4_enp2611` Project

The ipv4_enp2611 project consists of a pair of loosely-coupled sets of components --microengine code and simulator scripts to be used with the Workbench, and core component infrastructure and utilities for the development platform. Both have been pre-installed for you at the lab; you need only the former on your own PC.

2.2.1 Workbench Components

Download the ZIP file proj_544fall04.zip and expand it in the directory C:\IXA_SDK_3.5\src. (Click "Yes to All" when prompted about existing files.) The main Workbench project file should now reside in

C:\IXA_SDK_3.5\src\applications\proj_544fall04\ipv4_enp2611\wbench_project

2.2.2 Linux Host Components

Download the file proj_544fall04_core.tar.gz to /opt/ixa_sdk_3.5/src on the Linux host. Untar the file using the command

        tar xzvf proj_544fall04_core.tar.gz

3 Booting the ENP-2611

Each time you reboot the Linux host, you will have to start the DHCP, TFTP, and NFS daemons. To do so, run the script /opt/ixp_scripts/host_startup.sh.
Note: this step can be omitted most of the time, as you need not reboot the Linux host in order to reboot the ENP-2611.
From the Windows host, establish a HyperTerminal session to the ENP-2611 with the following settings:

Baud rate	57600
Bits	8
Parity	None
Stop bit	1
Flow control	None

Press the ENP-2611 reset button located near the copper Ethernet port on the side of the board. You will be able to observe the board boot in the HyperTerminal window.

As part of the boot process, the ENP-2611 will download its Linux kernel from the host and mount a root file system over NFS. You should not need to do anything until the login prompt appears.

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18-544 Network Design and Evaluation
Tools and Setup

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18-544 Network Design and Evaluation Tools and Setup