Port Trunking

Trunk Configuration Methods

Table 11-3. General Operating Rules for Port Trunks

Media: For proper trunk operation, all ports on both ends of a trunk group must have the same media type and mode (speed and duplex). (For the switches covered in this guide, ProCurve recommends leaving the port Mode setting at Auto or, in networks using Cat 3 cabling, Auto-10.)

Port Configuration: The default port configuration is Auto, which enables a port to sense speed and negotiate duplex with an Auto-Enabled port on another device. ProCurve recommends that you use the Auto setting for all ports you plan to use for trunking. Otherwise, you must manually ensure that the mode setting for each port in a trunk is compatible with the other ports in the trunk.

Recommended Port Mode Setting for LACP

Figure 11-2. Recommended Port Mode Setting for LACP

All of the following operate on a per-port basis, regardless of trunk membership:

•Enable/Disable

•Flow control (Flow Ctrl)

LACP is a full-duplex protocol. Refer to “Trunk Group Operation Using LACP” on page 11-18.

Trunk Configuration: All ports in the same trunk group must be the same trunk type (LACP or Trunk). All LACP ports in the same trunk group must be either all static LACP or all dynamic LACP.

A trunk appears as a single port labeled Dyn1 (for an LACP dynamic trunk) or Trk1 (for a static trunk of type: LACP, Trunk) on various menu and CLI screens. For a listing of which screens show which trunk types, refer to “How the Switch Lists Trunk Data” on page 11-27.

For spanning-tree or VLAN operation, configuration for all ports in a trunk is done at the trunk level. (You cannot separately configure individual ports within a trunk for spanning-tree or VLAN operation.)

Traffic Distribution: All of the switch trunk protocols use the SA/DA (Source Address/Destination Address) method of distributing traffic across the trunked links. Refer to “Outbound Traffic Distribution Across Trunked Links” on page 11-27.

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