Will These Links Bundle? — TechKnowSurge

About this interactive

From the lesson: - **Link aggregation** bundles parallel links between two switches into one logical link: more bandwidth, and it stays up if one member fails. Cisco calls it EtherChannel. - **Two to eight members.** They do not have to be next to each other on the switch. - **The members must match each other:** on each switch, every member has the same speed and duplex, the same port type (access, trunk or routed) and the same VLANs. A switch will not bundle a member that differs from the rest. - **No mixing speeds:** Fast Ethernet and Gigabit Ethernet cannot share a bundle. - Configure the port channel as a whole, so the members cannot drift apart. The video says the settings must match on both sides. Set both switches alike, but each switch checks only its own members against each other: LACP and PAgP do not compare VLANs or port types across the link, so a mismatch between the two switches can still come up as a channel and then carry traffic wrongly.

What you'll learn

Decide whether links between two switches can form one EtherChannel: every member must match in speed, duplex, port type and VLANs, two to eight members
Recognize that members need not be side by side, and that Fast Ethernet and Gigabit Ethernet cannot share a bundle

Aligned to

Cisco CCNA

2.4 Configure and verify Layer 2/Layer 3 EtherChannel (LACP)

Key terms

Link Aggregation: A technique that combines multiple network links into a single logical connection to increase bandwidth and provide redundancy between switches.
EtherChannel: Cisco's implementation of link aggregation that bonds multiple physical links into a single logical channel to increase bandwidth and redundancy.
Port Channel: The logical interface automatically created on a Cisco switch when physical interfaces are assigned to a channel group, used to apply shared configuration settings.
Trunk Port: A switch port that carries traffic for multiple VLANs over a single link by tagging frames with their VLAN ID, used between switches or between a switch and a router. All VLANs are tagged except the native VLAN.
Access Port: A switch port that belongs to a single data VLAN and sends and receives untagged frames, used for connecting end devices such as PCs and printers. An access port may additionally carry a tagged voice VLAN for an IP phone without becoming a trunk.
Routed Port: A switch port on a multilayer switch that has been configured to operate like a router interface at Layer 3 rather than as a switching port, allowing it to be assigned an IP address and participate in routing protocols. Routed ports are used where a Layer 3 boundary is needed directly on the switch without a separate router.

Topics

Etherchannel Link Aggregation Port Channel Interactive Streak Sort

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