Acer G901 manual Adapter Fault Tolerance, Adaptive Load Balancing

38 2 System setup

Considerations

Windows NT versions prior to 4.0 do not support Adapter Teaming options.

Adapter Teaming options require NT 4.0 with Service Pack 4.0 or later (or Service Pack 3.0 and the Windows Hot Fix).

In Windows NT, teaming options cannot be implemented on adapters that have been configured for VLANs. NetWare can support teaming options and VLANs on the same adapters.

Adapter Fault Tolerance

Adapter Fault Tolerance (AFT) is a simple, effective, and fail-safe approach to increase the reliability of server connections. AFT gives you the ability to set up link recovery to the server adapter in case of a cable, port, or network interface card failure. By assigning two server adapters as a team, AFT enables you to maintain uninterrupted network performance.

AFT is implemented with two server adapters: a primary adapter and a backup, or secondary, adapter. During normal operation, the backup will have transmit disabled. If the link to the primary adapter fails, the link to the backup adapter automatically takes over.

Adaptive Load Balancing

Adaptive Load Balancing (ALB) is a simple and efficient way to increase your server's transmit throughput. With ALB you group server adapters in teams to provide an increased transmit rate (up to 8 Gbps) using a maximum of eight adapters. The ALB software continuously analyzes transmit loading on each adapter and balances the rate across the adapters as needed. Adapter teams configured for ALB also provide the benefits of AFT. Receive rates remain at 100 Mbps or

1 Gbps depending on the primary adapter's capability.

To use ALB, you must have two to eight server adapters installed in your server and linked to the same network switch.