Windows Server 2012 R2, Windows Server 2008 R2; Overview - NEC Express5800/R310e-E4 Maintenance Manual

Chapter 2 Configuring and Upgrading the System
3.2

Windows Server 2012 R2, Windows Server 2008 R2

3.2.1 Overview

The duplex LAN configuration is of three types as described below:
Adapter Fault Tolerance (AFT)
AFT is a feature that places more than one LAN adapters on the same switch, and automatically switches
the process of the active adapter to the standby adapter when any trouble occurred on the active adapter.
Usually the active adapter is used for communication. Spanning Tree Protocol (STP) of the switch must be
disabled.
Adaptive Load Balancing (ALB)
ALB includes features of AFT, and enhances the throughput by distributing packet transmission by using
LAN adapters simultaneously.
Receive Load Balancing (RLB) is enabled by default. Disable RLB and remove adapter priority when using
ALB.
Switch Fault Tolerance (SFT)
SFT is a feature that provides redundant network, as two adapters are connected to corresponding two
switches. One is allocated to the active adapter and the other is allocated to the standby adapter. Usually
the active adapter is used for communication.
Spanning Tree Protocol (STP) function is required to construct the path redundancy on the switch devices.
When you construct the environment, you need to set the switch priority in order to maintain the path to the
active adapter after the path information is updated if a switch on the path is broken. In addition, you need to
set the priority to use the standby adapter's switch if the active adapter's switch is broken.
The other modes, "Static Link Aggregation", "IEEE 802.3ad Link Aggregation", and "Virtual Machine Load
Balancing" do not contribute to enhancement of network redundancy. When a fault occurs, the communication
performed on the controller with the fault is not taken over by the standby controller but lost.
Express5800/R310e-E4, R320e-E4, R320e-M4, R310f-E4, R320f-E4, R320f-M4 Maintenance Guide (Windows)
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3. Duplex LAN Configuration