Prerequisites For Configuring Link Bundling - Cisco 6000 Series Configuration Manual

Prerequisites for Configuring Link Bundling

The prerequisites for link bundling depend on the platform on which you are configuring this feature.
This section includes the following information:
Prerequisites for Configuring Link Bundling
Before configuring link bundling, be sure that these tasks and conditions are met:
• You know which links should be included in the bundle you are configuring.
• If you are configuring an Ethernet link bundle, you have at least one of the following Ethernet cards
Information About Configuring Link Bundling
To configure link bundling, you must understand the following concepts:
Link Bundling Overview
The Link Bundling feature allows you to group multiple point-to-point links together into one logical link
and provide higher bidirectional bandwidth, redundancy, and load balancing between two routers. A virtual
interface is assigned to the bundled link. The component links can be dynamically added and deleted from
the virtual interface.
The virtual interface is treated as a single interface on which one can configure an IP address and other software
features used by the link bundle. Packets sent to the link bundle are forwarded to one of the links in the bundle.
The advantages of link bundles are as follows:
• Multiple links can span several line cards to form a single interface. Thus, the failure of a single link
• Bundled interfaces increase bandwidth availability, because traffic is forwarded over all available members
For example, a bundle can contain all Ethernet interfaces, or it can contain all POS interfaces, but it cannot
contain Ethernet and POS interfaces at the same time.
Cisco IOS XR software supports the following methods of forming bundles of Ethernet interfaces:
• IEEE 802.3ad—Standard technology that employs a Link Aggregation Control Protocol (LACP) to
Interface and Hardware Component Configuration Guide for Cisco NCS 6000 Series Routers, IOS XR Release 6.4.x
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installed in the router:
• 4-Port 10-Gigabit Ethernet PLIM
• 8-Port 10-Gigabit Ethernet PLIM
• 10-Port Gigabit Ethernet SPA
• 42-Port Gigabit Ethernet PLIM
• 1-Port 100-Gigabit Ethernet PLIM
does not cause a loss of connectivity.
of the bundle. Therefore, traffic can if one of the links within a bundle fails. can without interrupting
packet flow.
ensure that all the member links in a bundle are compatible. Links that are incompatible or have failed
are automatically removed from a bundle.
Configuring Link Bundling