Enterasys Networks Enterasys Gold Distributed Forwarding Engine 4G4285-49 - Manual (Page 32)

Link Aggregation
2-2 Network Requirements
Link Aggregation
Link Aggregation is a method of grouping multiple physical ports on a network device
into one logical link according to the IEEE 802.3ad‐2002 standard. Because Link
Aggregation is standards based, it allows for automatic configuration with manual
overrides (if applicable), and can operate on 10 Mbps, 100 Mbps, or 1000 Mbps Ethernet
full duplex ports. Thus the network administrator can combine a group of five 100 Mbps
ports into a logical link (trunk) that functions as a single 500 Mbps port. As long as the
DFE modules agree on which ports are in the trunk, there are no problems with looping,
and the Spanning Tree can treat this trunk as a single port.
In normal usage (and typical implementations) there is no need to enable/disable ports for
Link Aggregation. The default values will result in the maximum number of aggregations
possible. If the switch is placed in a configuration with its peers not running the protocol,
no aggregations will be formed and the DFE modules will function normally (that is,
Spanning Tree will block redundant paths).
For details about the commands involved with configuring the Link Aggregation
function, refer to the Enterasys Matrix DFE‐Gold Series Configuration Guide.
Module Placement in a Matrix E7 Chassis
If you want to mix 6x1xxx, 6x2xxx, 6x3xxx, and 7H43xx‐xx series modules in the same
Matrix E7 chassis, it is necessary to have a DFE module installed such as the 4G4285‐49,
and also follow the module placement rules described in “
DFE Module Placement and
Installation Rules ” on page 3‐3 to successfully bridge data traffic to some or all modules in
the Matrix E7 chassis.
FTM Bridge Function and Optional NEM
The 4G4285‐49 DFE module does not support both the FTM bridging function and an
optional network expansion module at the same time. With an optional network
expansion module installed, the FTM bridging function is disabled. In either of these
cases, all ports of the 4G4285‐49 remain active.