Introduction
Cisco Prime Infrastructure - Need to use both the ports of PRIME-NCS-APL-K9.
Scenario 1
The ETHERNET 2 Port in the CISCO PRIME INFRASTRUCTURE APPLIANCE. Is it in use?
Can user connect network in this port? what is the purpose of ETHERNET 2 port?
Solution
Another user is using it for out of band to be able to GUI and transfer files. The only catch was that he had to set the interface ip on a different subnet than the management. Other than that, most of all the PI appliances we have used we only connect and set one interface.
More Information
Q. Did you mean that this port is using like a service port in a WLC? Do you recommend the implementation of this appliance with one port ethernet?
A. It isn't like a service port.... my peer needed a work around because they had to backup the server and didn't have access to the network, so they used the second port to connect directly to a laptop. I do recommend only using one port.
"When both NICs are used, one will be for reaching the GUI for access and the other for sending SNMP traffic over to the managed devices, but most folks use just one"
Adding to Rasika and Scott's correct replies, realize that the appliances are based on general purpose server platforms - the old one was IBM OEM and the new appliances are Cisco UCS-based. Those servers have a set of hardware components that are designed for general purpose requirements.
When Cisco builds the Linux and ADE-OS that runs on this general purpose hardware, they don't necessarily maximize the potential use of every bit of that underlying hardware.
Scenario 2
I am having NCS prime appliance. In that i have two Ethernet ports. I want to use both the ports for connectivity .
Can anyone please confirm that is it possible to bond these to ports and assign a single ip to these ports.
I wants to have redundancy in case of failure of links.
Solution
This isn't possible today. Whether a physical or virtual NCS/Prime Infrastructure appliance, the two NICs are separate and cannot be ether channeled, NIC Teamed or combined in any other way with one IP address covering both of them. When both NICs are used, one will be for reaching the GUI for access and the other for sending SNMP traffic over to the managed devices, but most folks use just one.
If you need this functionality, please contact your Cisco SE, Cisco account team or Cisco authorised wireless reseller, and discuss it with them. The sales side of Cisco has procedures in place to accumulate customer inputs like this across all the customers they serve, and to get that input forwarded to the various business units within Cisco for possible inclusion in future releases of Cisco's products.
Q. Is it possible to assign two different IP addresses to both the ports? can any one of the IP address be reached in case of one link failure ?
A. No, it's not possible for interface GigabitEthernet 0 to have an address like 10.10.10.1 and 20.20.20.1 at the same time, nor can interface GigabitEthernet 0 and interface GigabitEthernet 1 both have 10.10.10.1 at the same time.
Further, in the GUI under Administration > Appliance > Appliance Interfaces, there are drop downs to select the Management interface (the one the GUI responds on) and the Peer Server interface (the one that talks to the devices that will be managed). Each type of interface can only have one selection at a time.
Again, that's how it works today. All sorts of things are possible with Product Enhancement Requests.
Source
https://supportforums.cisco.com/discussion/11856911/need-use-both-ports-prime-ncs-apl-k9
https://supportforums.cisco.com/discussion/12523586/cisco-prime-infrastructure-appliance
