Chapter 2: Network Requirements; Link Aggregation - Enterasys Matrix 7G4202-72 Hardware Installation Manual

This chapter provides information concerning the network requirements that must be met to
ensure a satisfactory performance from the DFE module. The information consists of the
following:
For information about...

Link Aggregation

10BASE-T Network
100BASE-TX Network
1000BASE-T Network
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 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 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‐Platinum Series Configuration Guide.
Note: The Enterasys Matrix DFE-Platinum Series Configuration Guide and the Cabling Guide
referred to in the following sections can be found on the Enterasys Networks World Wide Web site:
http://www.enterasys.com/support/manuals
Refer to "Related Documents"
Network Requirements
on page xii for more information.
DFE-Platinum Series Hardware Installation Guide 2-1
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