Brocade Communications Systems 53-1002163-02 manual Configuring Link Aggregation

	Chapter
Configuring Link Aggregation	8

In this chapter

•Link aggregation overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79

•LACP configuration guidelines and restrictions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83

•Default LACP configuration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83

•LACP configuration and management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83

•LACP troubleshooting tips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85

Link aggregation overview

Link aggregation allows you to bundle multiple physical Ethernet links to form a single logical trunk providing enhanced performance and redundancy. The aggregated trunk is referred to as a Link Aggregation Group (LAG). The LAG is viewed as a single link by connected devices, the spanning tree protocol, IEEE 802.1Q VLANs, and so on. When one physical link in the LAG fails, the other links stay up and there is no disruption to traffic.

To configure links to form a LAG, the physical links must be the same speed and all links must go to the same neighboring device. Link aggregation can be done by manually configuring the LAG or by dynamically configuring the LAG using the IEEE 802.3ad Link Aggregation Control Protocol (LACP).

NOTE

The LAG or LAG interface is also referred to as a port-channel.

The benefits of link aggregation are summarized as follows:

•Increased bandwidth. The logical bandwidth can be dynamically changed as the demand changes.

•Increased availability.

•Load sharing.

•Rapid configuration and reconfiguration.

The Brocade FCoE hardware supports the following trunk types:

•Static, standards-based LAG.

•Dynamic, standards-based LAG using LACP.

•Static, Brocade-proprietary LAG.

•Dynamic, Brocade-proprietary LAG using proprietary enhancements to LACP.

Link Aggregation Group configuration

You can configure a maximum of 24 Link Aggregation Groups (LAG) with up to 16 links per standard LAG and four links per Brocade-proprietary LAG. Each LAG is associated with an aggregator. The aggregator manages the Ethernet frame collection and distribution functions.

Converged Enhanced Ethernet Administrator’s Guide	79
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