Bonding Nics - Lenovo px2-300d User Manual

Device Configuration Options

Bonding NICs

Bonding network interface cards (NICs) is a way to provide redundancy for your px2-300d on the network.
If one NIC should fail, your px2-300d will remain accessible on the network if that NIC is bonded to others.
Depending on the bonding mode selected, it can also increase bandwidth.
You can bond the built-in NICs in your px2-300d.
Use the following procedure to bond NICs:
1. Open the Network feature and click
2. Use the drop-down menu to select the Bonding Mode you want to use:
Adaptive Load Balance:
●
This mode increases bandwidth by distributing the load across the bonded NICs. Adaptive
Load Balance does not require any switch or router support because the bonding is done by
the px2-300d, and LifeLine's bonding driver takes care of network traffic to support the
bonding. Adaptive Load Balance is the default bonding mode.
Link Aggregation:
●
This mode increases bandwidth by distributing the load across multiple ports in a switch. Link
Aggregation requires an 802.3ad compatible network switch.
Failover:
●
Failover mode protects network connectivity for your px2-300d in case a NIC fails. In Failover
mode, only one NIC in the bond is active; other NICs in the bond are passive. If the active NIC
fails, another NIC in the bond becomes active and maintains network connectivity. Failover
mode does not require any switch support, and it does not provide any bandwidth increase.
3. Click Apply to save your setting.
4. In the Network Interface table, expand the number for one of the NICs you want to bond, and then
expand the Bond Network Interface section.
5. Check the box under Bond next to each NIC you want to bond to the selected NIC. For example,
if you expanded NIC 1, and your configuration includes four NICs, you could bond NIC 1 to NIC 2,
3, and/or 4.
6. Click Apply to save your settings.
The section updates and displays the NICs that are bonded to the selected NIC.
Unbonding NICs
1. To unbond a NIC, uncheck the box next to the bonded NIC.
2. Click Apply to save your settings.
18 Network Settings
Modify network settings.