Port Channel Implementation - Dell Force10 Z9000 Configuration Manual

Ftos configuration guide for z9000 system

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With this feature, the user can create larger-capacity interfaces by utilizing a group of lower-speed links.

For example, the user can build a 5-Gigabit interface by aggregating five 1-Gigabit Ethernet interfaces

together. If one of the five interfaces fails, traffic is redistributed across the four remaining interfaces.

Port channel implementation

FTOS supports two types of port channels:

Static—Port channels that are statically configured

Dynamic—Port channels that are dynamically configured using Link Aggregation Control Protocol

(LACP). For details, see

Table 19-2. Number of Port-channels per Platform

E-Series TeraScale

E-Series ExaScale

S-Series: S25 and S50

S55, S60 and S4810

Note: If you are using either 10G ports or 40G ports, the Z9000 supports 8 members per LAG

As soon as a port channel is configured, FTOS treats it like a physical interface. For example, IEEE

802.1Q tagging is maintained while the physical interface is in the port channel.

Member ports of a LAG are added and programmed into hardware in a predictable order based on the port

ID, instead of in the order in which the ports come up. With this implementation, load balancing yields

predictable results across line card resets and chassis reloads.

A physical interface can belong to only one port channel at a time.

Each port channel must contain interfaces of the same interface type/speed.

Port channels can contain a mix of 10, 100, or 1000 Mbps Ethernet interfaces and Gigabit Ethernet

interfaces, and the interface speed (10, 100, or 1000 Mbps) used by the port channel is determined by the

first port channel member that is physically up. FTOS disables the interfaces that do match the interface

speed set by the first channel member. That first interface may be the first interface that is physically

brought up or was physically operating when interfaces were added to the port channel. For example, if the

first operational interface in the port channel is a Gigabit Ethernet interface, all interfaces at 1000 Mbps are

kept up, and all 10/100/1000 interfaces that are not set to 1000 speed or auto negotiate are disabled.

FTOS brings up 10/100/1000 interfaces that are set to auto negotiate so that their speed is identical to the

speed of the first channel member in the port channel.

Chapter 22, Link Aggregation Control Protocol

Port-channels

Members/Channel

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