Cisco 2950 Software Configuration Guide - Page 608
PAgP and LACP Interaction with Other Features, Understanding Load Balancing and Forwarding Methods
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Understanding EtherChannels Chapter 31 Configuring EtherChannels PAgP and LACP Interaction with Other Features The Dynamic Trunking Protocol (DTP) and Cisco Discovery Protocol (CDP) send and receive packets over the physical interfaces in the EtherChannel. Trunk ports send and receive PAgP and LACP protocol data units (PDUs) on the lowest numbered VLAN. Spanning tree sends packets over a single physical interface in the EtherChannel. Spanning tree regards the EtherChannel as one port. PAgP sends and receives PAgP PDUs only from interfaces that have PAgP enabled for the auto or desirable mode. LACP sends and receives LACP PDUs only from interfaces that have LACP enabled for the active or passive mode. Understanding Load Balancing and Forwarding Methods EtherChannel balances the traffic load across the links in a channel by randomly associating a newly learned MAC address with one of the links in the channel. With source-MAC address forwarding, when packets are forwarded to an EtherChannel, they are distributed across the ports in the channel based on the source-MAC address of the incoming packet. Therefore, to provide load balancing, packets from different hosts use different ports in the channel, but packets from the same host use the same port in the channel (and the MAC address learned by the switch does not change). With destination-MAC address forwarding, when packets are forwarded to an EtherChannel, they are distributed across the ports in the channel based on the destination host's MAC address of the incoming packet. Therefore, packets to the same destination are forwarded over the same port, and packets to a different destination are sent on a different port in the channel. You configure the load balancing and forwarding method by using the port-channel load-balance global configuration command. In Figure 31-3, multiple workstations are connected to a switch, and an EtherChannel connects the switch to the router. Source-based load balancing is used on the switch end of the EtherChannel to ensure that the switch efficiently uses the bandwidth of the router by distributing traffic from the workstation across the physical links. Since the router is a single MAC address device, it uses destination-based load balancing to efficiently spread the traffic to the workstations across the physical links in the EtherChannel. Use the option that provides the greatest variety in your configuration. For example, if the traffic on a channel is going only to a single MAC address, using the destination-MAC address always chooses the same link in the channel; using source addresses or IP addresses might result in better load balancing. 31-6 Catalyst 2950 and Catalyst 2955 Switch Software Configuration Guide 78-11380-10
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