Hi there

We have a bit of a debate going here over what the prefered method is for setting 1000/Full on e1000g or nge interfaces is.

As you aware the Solaris configration files for nge and e1000g dont allow you to "fix" 1000/Full but instead allow you to set auto-negotiate to ON but only advertise the capability to set 1000/Full. All of our Solaris boxes have been configured using this method .... BUT, on the Cisco switch side we have recently discovered that half the sysadmins have been FIXING the switchport to 1000/FULL and the other half have been setting the switchport to autonegotiate ( mirroring the server config )

Now the thing is, both seem to work absolutely fine,


On the switch, the fixed ports come up as

Gi1/36 server1 connected 3 full 1000

and the ones where the switch is configured as auto-neg..like this

Gi1/12 server2 connected 3 a-full a-1000


"dladm show-dev" on both Solaris boxes confirms that 1000/Full is set as well

We are finally in the process of putting an absolute procedure together with the preffered method of doing this , so what is the prefered method? My understanding is that if you autoneg on one side it is best practice to autoneg on the other ? is this correct ....? but as i say, both methods seem to achieve the desired result


Any input would be greatly appreciated

i would always go to use "autoneg" and specialy with cisco switches. all other only if you are running into problems...