Dell N2048, N3024 manual Introduction, Mlag

1Introduction

MLAGs provide an active-active split aggregation deployment across two switches acting as one. MLAG creates a more resilient network with higher bandwidth capabilities. This white paper discusses MLAGs, how and when they are used, caveats to look out for, and instructions on how to implement MLAG into your network.

Figure 1 below shows two very basic examples of MLAG domains. In both examples, peer switches are linked together with a special LAG (one or more cables as denoted by the red line in the pictures below), called a Peer-Link. With the Peer-Link configured, the two switches appear as a single switch to partner switches upstream and downstream. Each partner switch contains MLAGs that are simply LAGs (ling aggregation groups) whose cables are split between the two peers. Primary and secondary peer roles are chosen automatically by the program when MLAG is enabled.

Simple L2 MLAG
Primary MLAG peer	Secondary MLAG peer
	Peer-Link

MLAG
	MLAG peers appear
	as a single logical
Partner Switch	switch to partner
	switches on the
	network

L3 MLAG with mulitple

partner switches

Primary MLAG peer	Secondary MLAG peer
	Peer-Link

MLAG	MLAG
Partner Switch	Partner Switch

Figure 1 Two examples of a single-tier MLAG topology

5 Using MLAG in Dell Networks

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