EtherChannels

Why Use EtherChannels:

Essential Procedures:

Tips on Using this Window:

  • Click the column headings to sort information.
  • Click Submit to save your changes.
  • Click Cancel to discard unsaved changes.

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What Is an EtherChannel

An EtherChannel (or port group) is a group of two or more Fast Ethernet or Gigabit Ethernet switch ports bundled into a single logical link, creating a higher bandwidth link between two switches. The switch supports up to six EtherChannels.

For example, you can assign four 10/100 switch ports to an EtherChannel to provide full-duplex bandwidth of up to 800 Mb/s. If one of the ports in the EtherChannel becomes unavailable, traffic is carried over the remaining ports within the EtherChannel.

All ports in an EtherChannel must have the same characteristics:

  • All are applied with the Smartports Switch port role and belong to the same VLAN. For information about port roles and VLAN memberships, see Smartports.
  • All are either 10/100 ports, or all are 10/100/1000 ports. You cannot group a mix of 10/100 and 10/100/1000 ports in an EtherChannel.
  • All are enabled. A disabled port in an EtherChannel is treated as a link failure, and its traffic is transferred to one of the remaining ports in the EtherChannel.

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Create an EtherChannel

To create an EtherChannel:

  1. Click Create from the EtherChannels window.

  2. Enter a group number for the EtherChannel. The number can be from 1 to 6.

  3. Choose a mode from the Mode list. The default is IEEE 802.3ad (LACP).

    • The IEEE 802.3ad (LACP) mode allows the switch to create one end of the EtherChannel if the other switch requests it.
    • The Static mode requires you to verify that both ends of the EtherChannel have the same configuration and then to manually create the EtherChannel.
    • The Port Aggregation Protocol (PAgP) mode allows the switch to automatically form an EtherChannel with the other switch.

  4. Select one or more ports.
  1. Click Done.

  2. Repeat Steps 1 to 5 until you have created all of your EtherChannels.

    Note: You can create up to six EtherChannels.

  3. Click Submit to save your changes.

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Change an EtherChannel

To change an EtherChannel:

  1. Check the check box of the EtherChannel that you want to change.

  2. Click Modify from the EtherChannels window.

  3. Choose a mode from the Mode list. The default is IEEE 802.3ad (LACP).

    • The IEEE 802.3ad (LACP) mode allows the switch to create one end of the EtherChannel if the other switch requests it.
    • The Static mode requires you to verify that both ends of the EtherChannel have the same configuration and then to manually create the EtherChannel.
    • The Port Aggregation Protocol (PAgP) mode allows the switch to automatically form an EtherChannel with the other switch.

  4. Select one or more ports.

  5. Click Done.

  6. Repeat Steps 1 to 5, as needed.

  7. Click Submit to save your changes.

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Delete an EtherChannel

To delete an EtherChannel:

  1. Select one or more EtherChannels.

  2. Click Delete.

  3. Click Submit to save your changes.

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