A port channel, also known as a LAG, or link aggregation group, increases bandwidth and provide failover redundancy and load balancing between two switches. Although a port channel can contain a single cable, it is typically created using two or more cables between devices. Use two cables to double bandwidth, three cables to triple bandwidth, or four cables to quadruple bandwidth. Like ports with the same speed are required when combining to form the port channel.
Two cables used in this example double the bandwidth provided by a single cable. In the commands below, ports 1/1/1 and 1/1/2 from each switch are used to form a port channel. The port-channel command is run from the global configuration mode to create the group. The channel-group command is then run from the interface configuration mode to assign ports to the group. The preferred mode active option is used to create an LACP port channel which allows negotiation with other ports to automate LAG connections. SmartFabric OS10 supports up to 128 port channels with up to 32 ports (per switch) per channel, though the switch hardware may limit this. In this example, port channel 1 is created and assigned two ports per switch.
Configure a port channel on switch #1 | Configure a port channel on switch #2 |
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The following show port-channel summary command can be used on each switch to validate the port channel and its member ports are up. The show lldp neighbors command may be used on each switch to verify which ports are connected between switches.
OS10# show port-channel summary
Flags: D – Down I – member up but inactive P – member up and active
U – Up (port-channel)
Group Port-Channel Type Protocol Member Ports
1 port-channel1 (U) Eth DYNAMIC 1/1/1(P) 1/1/2(P)
OS10# show lldp neighbors
Loc PortID Rem Host Name Rem Port Id Rem Chassis Id
ethernet1/1/1 OS10 ethernet1/1/1 14:18:77:17:f1:b8
ethernet1/1/2 OS10 ethernet1/1/2 14:18:77:17:f1:b8
VLAN 1 is the default vlan for all Ethernet ports on the switch, and all interfaces and port channels are assigned to this VLAN by default. The VLANs section demonstrates how to create a VLAN and assign interfaces and port channels to the new VLAN.