newer network interface adapters have light indicators.
on "qfe" quad fast ethernet and "ge" Sun Gigabit Ethernet 2.0 adapters:
LED Status Description
--------------------------------------------------------------
LINK Off Port not connected or Link partner down
Green Steady Link detected & active
on "ce" Gigaswift:
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LINK QUALITY Purple Gigabit link quality good
PHY 1000X Green Link 1Gbit/s up
PHY 100X Green Link 100Mbit/s up
PHY 10X Green Link 10Mbit/s up
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checking with SNMP ( requires snmp Software)
./snmpwalk netlab11 public interfaces.ifTable
Implemented as part of Solaris 9.
IP will clear the RUNNING flag if the link is down, and
set it again when the link is up.
Bug/RFE ref: 1208229 link status should be reflected by the RUNNING flag, not the
UP flag
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mpathd notices
If using Solaris 8 IPMP (IP Multipathing ) mpathd will detect NIC failures and post notices.
NIC failure detected on qfe0
in.mpathd has detected that NIC qfe0 is repaired and operational
Successfully failed back to NIC qfe0 to NIC qfe1
in.mpathd has restored network traffic back to NIC qfe0, which is
now repaired and operational.