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You can configure a logical partition so that it is the only logical partition that can access a physical port of an HEA by specifying promiscuous mode for an LHEA that is assigned to the logical partition, typically with VIOS. When an LHEA is in promiscuous mode, no other logical partitions can access the logical ports of the physical port that is associated with the LHEA that is in promiscuous mode. You might want to configure a logical partition to promiscuous mode in the following situations:

If you want to connect more than 16 logical partitions to each other and to an external network through a  physical port on an HEA, you can create a logical port on a Virtual I/O Server logical partition and configure an Ethernet bridge between the logical port and a virtual Ethernet adapter on a virtual LAN. This allows all logical partitions with virtual Ethernet adapters on the virtual LAN to communicate with the physical port through the Ethernet bridge. If you configure an Ethernet bridge between a logical port and a virtual Ethernet adapter, the physical port that is connected to the logical port must have the following properties:

The physical port must be configured so that the Virtual I/O Server logical partition is the promiscuous mode logical partition for the physical port.

The physical port can have only one logical port.

You want the logical partition to have dedicated access to a physical port.

You want to use tools such as tcpdump or iptrace.