LACP
Link Aggregation control Protocol allow to aggregate multiple physical port to a single logical port. Upper layer MAC entity see this as single logical port. LACP negotiate parameter by sending LACPDU to the peer switch and based on the information receive decide to aggregate physical port into a logical port.
One or more port can be made part of a Link aggregation if they are meeting following criteria
- All having same port speed( data Rate)
- All having same VLAN membership
- All Having same Admin Port Key (Administator can assign a Admin key to each port).
- All of them should be in FULL Duplex mode.
- All port should be terminating to a single switch.
Benefit from Link Aggregation
- Increased bandwidthThe capacity of multiple links is combined into one logical link.
- Linearly incremental bandwidthBandwidth can be increased in unit multiples as opposed to the order-of-magnitude increase available through Physical Layer technology options (10 Mb/s, 100 Mb/s, 1000 Mb/s, etc.).
- Increased availabilityThe failure or replacement of a single link within a Link Aggregation Group need not cause failure from the perspective of a MAC Client.
- Load sharingMAC Client traffic may be distributed across multiple links.
- Automatic configurationIn the absence of manual overrides, an appropriate set of Link Aggregation Groups is automatically configured, and individual links are allocated to those groups. If a set of links can aggregate, they will aggregate.
- Rapid configuration and reconfigurationIn the event of changes in physical connectivity, Link Aggregation will quickly converge to a new configuration, typically on the order of 1 second or less.
A switch can support two types of Link aggregation
- Static Link aggregation: One has to configured both switch manually. Statically adding one or more port in a aggregation group.
- Dynamic Link Aggregation: Achieved by LACP
Categories: Broadband