VLAN Trunks and EtherChannel Bundles - EtherChannel Bundle

10 important questions on VLAN Trunks and EtherChannel Bundles - EtherChannel Bundle

An EtherChannel bundle or EtherChannel or Port Channel is defined in the 802.3AD Link Aggregation specification. What is it used for.

It is used to define a logical link assembled from multiple physical links/interfaces, combining the bandwith of the member interfaces.

What 3 methods can be used to configure Etherchannels/Port Channels

1. Statically configure them
2. Use LACP Link Aggregation Control Protocl
3. Use PAgP Port Aggregation Protocol

PAgP advertises messages to which multicast MAC address? And with which protocol code?

Multicast MAC address: 0100:0CCC:CCCC
protocol code: 0x0104
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Which 2 modes does PAgP operate in?

1. Auto: Does not initiate a Port Channel or transmit PAgP messages. Only responds when it receives PAgP messages.
2. Desirable:  Initiates a Port Channel and transmits PAgP messages. Also responds when it receives PAgP messages.

What Multicast MAC address does LACP advertise it's messages to?

Multicast MAC Address: 0180:C200:0002

What 2 modes does LACP operate in?

1. Passive: does not initiate or transmits LACP packets. Only responds when it receives LACP packets.
2. Active: Initiates an Etherchannel connection and actively sends out LACP packets. Also responds to LACP packets it receives.

What benefit does the later added LACP Fast setting has over the original LACP standard.

The original standard sends out LACP packets every 30 seconds. Resulting in a potential packet loss time of 90 seconds, since it takes 3 intervals for the link to be deemed unusable. With LACP Fast the switch send LACP packets every 1 second, reducing the potential packet loss time to 3 seconds.
However the setting has to match on both switches for the Port Channel to succesfully form.

Which 9 settings must match on member interfaces for an EtherChannel to be succesfully configured.

1. Port type.
2. Port mode.
3. Native VLAN.
4. Allowed VLAN.
5. Speed
6. Duplex
7. MTU
8. Load interval
9. Storm Control

What are the 3 different traffic properties the switch can use in it's Load Balancing hashing algorythm?

1. Source and Destination MAC address
2. Source and Destination IP address
3. Source and Destination TCP/UDP Ports

Why is it best to have links in Port Channels in powers of 2 (2, 4, 8)?

A hash is a binary function, because of this the load balancing occurs most effectively on Port Channels with number of links in the power of 2.

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