Adaptive Load Balancing (ALB) - creates a team of 2 - 8 adapters to increase transmission throughput. Also includes AFT. Works with any 10Base-TX or 100Base-TX switch.

Fast EtherChannel (FEC) or Intel® Link Aggregation - creates a team of up to 8 adapters to increase transmission and reception throughput. Also includes AFT. Requires a FEC-enabled switch.

To set up an option, read the instructions in the Windows NT 4.0 or NetWare 4.1x readme files.

General Configuration Notes

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

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

3.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.

Preferred Primary Adapter

With multiple adapters installed, you can specify one as the Preferred Primary adapter. For example if you have a server with a PRO/1000 server adapter as the primary adapter and a PRO/100+ adapter as the secondary, you could configure the PRO/1000 server adapter to be the preferred primary. In this scenario, if the PRO/1000 server adapter fails, the PRO/100+ will take over. Then when the PRO/1000 server adapter is replaced, it will automatically revert to being the primary adapter in the team.

If a Preferred Primary is not selected, PROSet will attempt to select the best adapter, based on adapter model and speed.

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Viglen SX220 User Guide

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Intel SX220 manual Adapter Fault Tolerance, Preferred Primary Adapter, General Configuration Notes