Configuring Etherchannels - Cisco IE-4000 Software Configuration Manual

Configuring EtherChannels

Information About Configuring EtherChannels
This chapter describes how to configure EtherChannels on the switch. EtherChannel provides fault-tolerant high-speed
links between switches, routers, and servers. You can use it to increase the bandwidth between the wiring closets and
the data center, and you can deploy it anywhere in the network where bottlenecks are likely to occur. EtherChannel
provides automatic recovery for the loss of a link by redistributing the load across the remaining links. If a link fails,
EtherChannel redirects traffic from the failed link to the remaining links in the channel without intervention. This chapter
also describes how to configure link-state tracking.
EtherChannels
An EtherChannel consists of individual Ethernet links bundled into a single logical link as shown in
page 1027.
Figure 108 Typical EtherChannel Configuration
The EtherChannel provides full-duplex bandwidth up 2 Gb/s (Gigabit EtherChannel) between your switch and another
switch or host. Each EtherChannel can consist of up to eight compatibly configured Ethernet ports.
The number of EtherChannels is limited to 10. For more information, see
page 1035.
Catalyst 8500
series switch
Gigabit EtherChannel
1000BASE-X
10/100
Switched
links
Workstations
Cisco Systems, Inc.
1000BASE-X
10/100
Switched
links
Workstations
EtherChannel Configuration Guidelines,
www.cisco.com
1027
Figure 108 on