Introduction and overview – Allied Telesis AlliedWare Plus Operating System Version 5.4.4C (x310-26FT,x310-26FP,x310-50FT,x310-50FP) User Manual
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Link Aggregation Introduction and Configuration
Software Reference for x310 Series Switches
20.2
AlliedWare Plus
TM
Operating System - Version 5.4.4C
C613-50046-01 REV A
Introduction and Overview
This chapter contains two sample Link Aggregation Control Protocol (LACP), or dynamic
channel group, configurations and a sample static channel group configuration.
Link aggregation is the process where two or more ports in an Ethernet switch are
combined together to operate as a single virtual port.
Link aggregation is a key component in resilient network design, since it increases the
available bandwidth between network devices and it provides continuity of connectivity if
one link is broken between network devices.
By aggregating two or more links together, you can increase the bandwidth between
neighboring devices since this is effectively additive, where two links give up to twice the
bandwidth of one link. Having more than one link to a neighboring device provides
connectivity if one of the links break, where a feature of this resiliency is the speed at
which link aggregation reacts to the change of link status in a matter of millisecond.
A link aggregation can only exist between a pair of neighboring switches, where the
switch ports that are aggregated on one switch cannot be connected to switch ports that
are not aggregated on the other switch. A switch can have multiple link aggregations to
different neighbors, even to the same neighbor if the network is loop protected.
To see details about the commands used to configure dynamic (LACP) and static Link
aggregation, see
Chapter 21, Link Aggregation Commands
For a brief overview of static and dynamic link aggregation (LACP), see