[Bridge] Freezing bridges

[Stephen Hemminger]

On Wed, 14 Jan 2004 17:09:54 +0100
Jeroen Hoek <jeroen.hoek at dcf.nl> wrote:

> I have the following situation:
> 
> A Linux 2.4.22 server:
> 
> Physical ethernet:
> lan1 - Ethernet port (Internet)
> lan2 - Ethernet port (Cisco Switch, Trunk port)
> 
> Tunnel:
> tap1 - OpenVPN in tcp-server mode
> 
> VLAN's:
> lan2.201
> lan2.202
> lan2.203
> tap1.201
> tap1.202
> tap1.203
> 
> Bridges:
> br201 (lan2.201, tap1.201)
> br202 (lan2.202, tap1.202)
> br203 (lan2.203, tap1.203)
> 
> On the other end, the same type of server:
> 
> Physical ethernet:
> lan1 - Ethernet port (Internet)
> lan2 - Ethernet port (LAN)
> lan3 - Ethernet port (LAN)
> lan4 - Ethernet port (LAN)
> 
> Tunnel:
> tap1 - OpenVPN in tcp-client mode
> 
> VLAN's:
> tap1.201
> tap1.202
> tap1.203
> 
> Bridges:
> br201 (lan2, tap1.201)
> br202 (lan3, tap1.202)
> br203 (lan4, tap1.203)
> 
> Both servers are connected over Internet. This setup works. The server
> with the trunk port actually has more bridges; there are 3 servers that
> connect to it thru an OpenVPN tunnel, and all 3 server have 3 unique
> VLAN's bridged to it.
> 
> The problem is, that although in testing the setup everything runs
> stable, in reality, it doesn't. The first server crashes irregularly,
> but usually after a day or 2/3. The other servers have the exact same
> hardware, and crash aswell, albeit after a longer period of time. There
> is no indication as to what goes wrong. The servers still reply to ping
> and xinetd-daytime, but ssh is gone, as are the tunnels. The log shows
> nothing. The hardware watchdog does not reset and seems to keep
> receiving signals from the kernel module to prevent it from rebooting.
> 
> I don't know anymore. I replaced vtun with OpenVPN for the ethernet
> tunneling, but that does not seem to matter.
> 
> Please advice, I am lost. Would upgrading to kernel 2.6.1 be a valid
> solution? Am I overreaching the possibilities of the bridging
> functionality? Am I overlooking some pitfall?
> 
> With kind and desperate regards,
> 
> ing. Jeroen Hoek
> 
> _______________________________________________
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Sounds like the bridge freezes, but the server doesn't really crash.
Is there any console output or message log when this occurs?

Are you running spanning tree protocol?
Are the machines SMP or UP?
What is the output of brctl show and ifconfig when the network freezes?