IBM TotalStorage NAS 300 User Reference page 95

referred to as load balancing, port aggregation, or trunking. When you
configure this feature, the adapter ports comprising the FEC team or group
create a single high-speed, fault-tolerant link between the engine and the
Ethernet switch sharing one IP address. With FEC, fault tolerance and load
balancing is provided for both outbound and inbound traffic, unlike other
load-balancing schemes that balance only outbound traffic. Fast
EtherChannel and Gigabit EtherChannel (FEC/GEC) requires a FEC/GEC
compatible switch. The same teaming also must be enabled on the
connected switch ports.
Note: FEC requires an Ethernet switch with FEC capability. The FEC
implementation on the Alacritech 100x4 Quad-Port Server
Accelerated Adapter does not support the optional Port Aggregation
Protocol (PAgP) feature of FEC-capable Ethernet switches. Likewise,
The FEC/GEC implementation on the Alacritech 1000x1 Single-Port
Server and Storage Accelerated adapter does not support the
optional PAgP feature of FEC/GEC-capable Ethernet switches.
The following are the valid teaming configurations and restrictions for Cisco
EtherChannel teaming with Alacritech adapters:
v Two Alacritech 1000x1 Single-Port Server and Storage Accelerated
adapters can be teamed together.
v No Alacritech 1000x1 Single-Port Server and Storage Accelerated
adapters can be teamed with any port of the Alacritech 100x4 Quad-Port
Server Accelerated Adapters.
v One Alacritech 100x4 Quad-Port Server Accelerated Adapter can have
two or more of its ports teamed.
v Two Alacritech 100x4 Quad-Port Server Accelerated Adapters can have
any ports on any card teamed (limited to four ports per team). For
example, two ports on one card can be teamed with two ports on a
second card.
IEEE 802.3ad Link Aggregation Group
802.3ad is an IEEE industry-standard similar to the Cisco FEC/GEC.
802.3ad requires an Ethernet switch with 802.3ad capability. Alacritech does
not support the optional Port Aggregation Protocol (PAgP) feature of some
FEC switches or the 802.3ad LACP protocol. PAgP/LACP facilitates the
automatic creation of link aggregation groups. All EtherChannel and Link
Aggregation groups must be manually configured.
The following are the valid teaming configurations and restrictions for IEEE
802.3ad teaming with Alacritech adapters:
v Two Alacritech 1000x1 Single-Port Server and Storage Accelerated
adapters can be teamed together.
v No Alacritech 1000x1 Single-Port Server and Storage Accelerated
adapters can be teamed with any port of the Alacritech 100x4 Quad-Port
Server Accelerated Adapters.
v One Alacritech 100x4 Quad-Port Server Accelerated Adapter can have
two or more of its ports teamed.
v Two Alacritech 100x4 Quad-Port Server Accelerated Adapters can have
any ports on any card teamed (limited to four ports per team). For
example, two ports on one card can be teamed with two ports on a
second card.
Chapter 7. Managing adapters and controllers
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