Table of Contents
Advertisement
PortChannel Functionality
S e n d d o c u m e n t a t i o n c o m m e n t s t o m d s f e e d b a c k - d o c @ c i s c o . c o m .
PortChannel Functionality
A PortChannel has the following functionality:
•
•
•
•
Cisco MDS 9000 Family of switches support 128 PortChannels with 16 interfaces per PortChannel. A
PortChannel number refers to the unique (to each switch) identifier associated with each channel group.
This number ranges from of 1 to 128.
PortChannel Examples
PortChannels on Cisco MDS 9000 Family switches allow flexibility in configuration.
illustrates three possible PortChannel configurations:
•
•
•
Cisco MDS 9000 Family Configuration Guide
13-2
Provides a point-to-point connection over ISL (E ports) or EISL (TE ports). Multiple links can be
combined into a PortChannel.
Increases the aggregate bandwidth on an ISL by distributing traffic among all functional links in the
channel.
Load balances across multiple links and maintains optimum bandwidth utilization. Load balancing
is based on the source ID, destination ID, and exchange ID (OX ID).
Provides high availability on an ISL. If one link fails, traffic previously carried on this link is switched
to the remaining links. If a link goes down in a PortChannel, the upper protocol is not aware of it. To
the upper protocol, the link is still there, although the bandwidth is diminished. The routing tables
are not affected by link failure. PortChannels may contain up to 16 physical links and may span
multiple modules for added high availability.
See the
"Fail-Over Scenarios for PortChannels and FSPF Links" section on page 21-3
Note
fail-over scenarios.
PortChannel A aggregates two links on two interfaces on the same switching module at each end of
a connection.
PortChannel B also aggregates two links, but each link is connected to a different switching module.
If the switching module goes down, traffic is not affected.
PortChannel C aggregates three links. Two links are on the same switching module at each end,
while one is connected to a different switching module on switch 2.
Chapter 13
Configuring PortChannels
Figure 13-1
OL-6973-03, Cisco MDS SAN-OS Release 2.x
for
Advertisement
Table of Contents
