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85 Using MLAG in Dell Networking N-Series Switches | version 1.5
F Terminology
DSCP: Distributed Services Code Point is a field in the header of IPv4 and IPv6 packets which usually finds
its use in Quality of Service.
LACP (Link Aggregation Control Protocol): LACP is used to control the bundling (aggregating) of several
physical ports together to form a single logical channel. LACP allows a network device to negotiate an
automatic bundling of links by sending LACP packets to the peer (which is a directly connected device that
also implements LACP).
LAG (Link Aggregation Group): Two or more network links bundled (aggregated) together to function as a
single link.
MAC Address (Media Access Control Address): A hardware specific address that uniquely identifies each
node of a network. MAC addresses are typically assigned by the vendors of network interface controllers and
stored in the hardware.
MLAG: MLAG stands for Multi-Switch LAG. MLAG extends the LAG bandwidth advantage across multiple
Dell Networking N-series switches connected to LAG partner device. The two peer switches appear as single
switch with a single MAC address to the partner.
MLAG Partner: MLAG partner refers to a switch on the other end of the MLAG. It can be running MLAG, but
it doesn’t have to. It can be a single switch connecting to two MLAG peers as though it is connecting to one
single switch.
MLAG Peer: MLAG peers are switches in the same MLAG domain, which share MLAG port channels in order
to balance load and provide redundancy. They achieve this by syncing switching information via the peer link.
MSTP: Multiple Spanning Tree Protocol (802.1s) is a version of Spanning Tree Protocol which combines
Rapid Spanning Tree Protocol (802.1w) with the ability to explicitly define and create instances of STP.
VLANs can then be mapped to these instances, rather than having an instance for every VLAN, as in RSTP-
PV and PVST.
Partner: This refers to MLAG Partner
.
Peer: This refers to MLAG Peer.
Port Channels: Port channels combine multiple interfaces into one virtual interface. Port channels provide
increased bandwidth, redundancy and load balancing.
QoS: Quality of Service means classifying different kinds of traffic and then giving them different priorities by
means of assigning them different queues.
RSTP-PV: Per-VLAN Rapid Spanning Tree Protocol is a version of Spanning Tree Protocol which provides an
instance of STP for each VLAN. This capability is combined with the fast-convergence of RSTP (802.1w)
enabled by handshake-based link failure detection.
Telnet: Terminal Emulation Protocol enables system users to log in and use resources on remote networks.