If you’re trying to connect multiple switches together in your network, the easiest way is through link aggregation. This feature allows you to combine a large number of physical links into a single logical link called a port-channel, delivering higher bandwidth than each individual link can support.
To enable link aggregation, you must first configure the switches to do so. You can do this using the switch’s CLI or by logging into it with the graphical user interface.
Once you’ve configured the switch to do so, you can add additional physical links to the LAG. This will increase the number of physical ports that you can use with the LAG, enabling you to connect more devices to it.
When you’re adding the links to the LAG, make sure that all of them are in full-duplex mode and at the same speed. This is important because it will ensure that you get the maximum amount of bandwidth from the LAG, as well as ensuring that all of the devices connected to it can communicate with each other.
You can also use the feature to directly connect switches when the traffic between them needs high bandwidth and reliability, or to provide a higher-bandwidth connection to a public network. This will allow you to increase your network’s bandwidth without requiring any new equipment, making it a valuable resource for both small and large networks.
In addition to increasing your network’s bandwidth, link aggregation can also improve its efficiency and performance. By bundling a large number of Gigabit Ethernet ports together, you can load-balance the data across them, which will result in better performance for both the devices that are connected to the switch as well as the devices that are connecting to it.
To enable a switch to aggregate links, it must be able to perform the Link Aggregation Control Protocol (LACP). This requires that both switches have access to each other’s LACP port group.
When you create a LACP port group, the switches will share the state information for all of the ports in the group. This information is then used to determine which of the ports on both switches should be in the same LAG.
The switch will then assign the ports that are assigned to the LAG to a VPC identifier, which is a special number that can only be used by VPCs. This will then enable the switch to distribute all of the traffic that is passing through the LAG to the other devices in the network.
One of the main reasons that many people use link aggregation is to get increased bandwidth without having to upgrade their network. This can be useful if you have a lot of smart devices on your network and want to give them all the same speed, or if you have a big NAS or a virt cluster that uses lots of bandwidth.
Another benefit of link aggregation is that it can reduce the total cost of running your network. You can load-balance the data across a large number of Gigabit networks, which will reduce the cost of running your network. Additionally, if you have a number of devices on your network that require a high bandwidth connection, then link aggregation will help you avoid having to purchase additional hardware, which can be very costly.
