Understanding Port-Channel Interfaces - Cisco 2950G 24 - Catalyst Switch Software Configuration Manual

Understanding EtherChannels
Figure 27-1 Typical EtherChannel Configuration
Each EtherChannel can consist of up to eight compatibly configured Ethernet interfaces. All interfaces
in each EtherChannel must be the same speed, and all must be configured as Layer 2 interfaces.
The network device to which your switch is connected can impose its own limits on the number of
Note
interfaces in the EtherChannel. For Catalyst 2950 switches, the number of EtherChannels is limited to
six with eight ports per EtherChannel.
If a link within an EtherChannel fails, traffic previously carried over that failed link changes to the
remaining links within the EtherChannel. A trap is sent for a failure, identifying the switch, the
EtherChannel, and the failed link. Inbound broadcast and multicast packets on one link in an
EtherChannel are blocked from returning on any other link of the EtherChannel.

Understanding Port-Channel Interfaces

When you create an EtherChannel for Layer 2 interfaces, a logical interface is dynamically created. You
then manually assign an interface to the EtherChannel by using the channel-group interface
configuration command as shown in
Each EtherChannel has a logical port-channel interface numbered from 1 to. 6.
Catalyst 2950 Desktop Switch Software Configuration Guide
27-2
Catalyst 8500, 6000,
5500, or 4000
series switch
Gigabit EtherChannel
Catalyst 3550-12T
switch
1000BASE-X
Catalyst 3550-12T
switch
10/100
Switched
links
Workstations
1000BASE-X
Catalyst 2950G-24
switch
10/100
Switched
links
Workstations
Figure 27-2.
Chapter 27 Configuring EtherChannels
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