This only affects 2.2.x kernels. By default, you cannot have more than 16 eth interfaces. Using quad port cards, this _does_ now and then become used up. The limit is defined in drivers/net/net_init.c. 99.9% or so never need this, but for the record... Anyway, I don't see _any harm_ in raising that to, say, 32 if an updated kernel packages were to be issued.
Hm, this could be a pitfall for people installing Red Hat with the RH kernel and after enrolling their own kernel for some reasons get a kernel bailing out. This modification would have to be documented somewhere obvious (perhaps in the kernel dmesg output in boot phase).
People who roll their own kernels and own a system with >16 interfaces shouldn't be surprised by things like these.. And there are a lot of patches (e.g. soft-raid) which would get you into trouble if you didn't know what you're doing. Taking too much care of these would be an endless circle.
Nod, you're absolutely right. Take my comment void. I vote for pumping up this value too.
Thanks for the bug report. However, Red Hat no longer maintains this version of the product. Please upgrade to the latest version and open a new bug if the problem persists. The Fedora Legacy project (http://fedoralegacy.org/) maintains some older releases, and if you believe this bug is interesting to them, please report the problem in the bug tracker at: http://bugzilla.fedora.us/