Chapter 37 Configuring EtherChannels and Link-State Tracking

Understanding EtherChannels

Load-Balancing and Forwarding Methods, page 37-8

EtherChannel and Switch Stacks, page 37-10

EtherChannel Overview

An EtherChannel consists of individual Gigabit Ethernet links bundled into a single logical link as shown in Figure 37-1.

Figure 37-1 Typical EtherChannel Configuration

Catalyst 8500 series switch

Gigabit EtherChannel

1000BASE-X1000BASE-X

10/100

10/100

Switched

Switched

links

links

Workstations

Workstations

101237

The EtherChannel provides full-duplex bandwidth up to 8 Gb/s (Gigabit EtherChannel) or 80 Gb/s (10-Gigabit EtherChannel) between your switch and another switch or host.

Each EtherChannel can consist of up to eight compatibly configured Ethernet ports. All ports in each EtherChannel must be configured as either Layer 2 or Layer 3 ports. The number of EtherChannels is limited to 48. For more information, see the “EtherChannel Configuration Guidelines” section on page 37-12. The EtherChannel Layer 3 ports are made up of routed ports. Routed ports are physical ports configured to be in Layer 3 mode by using the no switchport interface configuration command. For more information, see the Chapter 11, “Configuring Interface Characteristics.”

Catalyst 3750-E and 3560-E Switch Software Configuration Guide

37-2

OL-9775-02

 

 

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Cisco Systems 3750E manual EtherChannel Overview, 37-2