Reference Guide

T Te 0/1-15,17-32
Dell#
Port Channel Interfaces
On an Aggregator, port channels are auto-configured as follows:
• All 10GbE uplink interfaces (ports 33 to 56) are auto-configured to belong to the same 10GbE port
channel (LAG 128).
• Server-facing interfaces (ports 1 to 32) auto-configure in LAGs (1 to 127) according to the NIC teaming
configuration on the connected servers.
Port channel interfaces support link aggregation, as described in IEEE Standard 802.3ad. .
NOTE: A port channel may also be referred to as a link aggregation group (LAG).
Port Channel Definitions and Standards
Link aggregation is defined by IEEE 802.3ad as a method of grouping multiple physical interfaces into a
single logical interface—a link aggregation group (LAG) or port channel. A LAG is “a group of links that
appear to a MAC client as if they were a single link” according to IEEE 802.3ad. In Dell Networking OS, a
LAG is referred to as a port channel interface.
A port channel provides redundancy by aggregating physical interfaces into one logical interface. If one
physical interface goes down in the port channel, another physical interface carries the traffic.
Port Channel Benefits
A port channel interface provides many benefits, including easy management, link redundancy, and
sharing.
Port channels are transparent to network configurations and can be modified and managed as one
interface.
With this feature, you can create larger-capacity interfaces by utilizing a group of lower-speed links. For
example, you can build a 40-Gigabit interface by aggregating four 10-Gigabit Ethernet interfaces
together. If one of the four interfaces fails, traffic is redistributed across the three remaining interfaces.
Port Channel Implementation
An Aggregator supports only port channels that are dynamically configured using the link aggregation
control protocol (LACP). For more information, refer to Link Aggregation. Statically-configured port
channels are not supported.
The table below lists out the number of port channels per platform.
Platform Port-channels Members/Channel
M IO Aggregator 128 16
As soon as a port channel is auto-configured, the Dell Networking OS treats it like a physical interface.
For example, IEEE 802.1Q tagging is maintained while the physical interface is in the port channel.
Interfaces
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