Working with Link Aggregation
Link Aggregation Overview
Link aggregation, also known as interface bonding, joins multiple physical interfaces together into a virtual interface, known as a . A bond interface can be configured for High Availability redundancy or for load sharing, which increases connection throughput above that which is possible using one physical interface.
For more about Link Aggregation, see the R80.30 Gaia Administration Guide and R80.30 ClusterXL Administration Guide.
Link Aggregation Terminology
- Link Aggregation (Interface Bonding): Networking technology that binds multiple physical interfaces together into one virtual interface.
- Bond: A group of physical interfaces that operate together as one virtual interface and share an IP address and MAC address. A bond is identified by the cluster by its Bond ID (for example:
bond0). - Bond Interface: The logical representation of the bond.
- Slave (enslaved interface): A physical interface that is a member of a bond. Slaves do not have an IP Address and in some cases share the same MAC address.
How Link Aggregation Works
A bond contains a minimum of one and may contain up to eight slave interfaces. All slave interfaces contained in a bond share a common IP address and may share the same MAC address. We recommend that each cluster member contain the same quantity of identical slave interfaces.
Item
|
Description
|
1
|
Switch
|
2
|
bond 0
|
3
|
Cluster
|
You can configure Link Aggregation using one of the following strategies:
- High Availability (Active/Backup): Ensures redundancy in the event of interface or link failure. This option also provides switch redundancy.
- Load Sharing (Active/Active): All interfaces are active, but handle different connections simultaneously. Traffic is balanced amongst slave interfaces to maximize throughput. The Load Sharing option does not support switch redundancy.
