Chapter 3. EtherChannels

EtherChannel Overview

An EtherChannel is a method of combining several physical links between switches into one logical connection. This is typically used when you need increased bandwidth between switches and also provides link redundancy. As illustrated in Figure 3-1, Spanning Tree normally blocks redundant links to avoid loops; EtherChannels circumvent that and enable load balancing across those links. A logical interface called the Port Channel interface is created. Spanning Tree then acts as if the port channel interface were a single physical interface.

Image

Figure 3-1 Spanning Tree Versus EtherChannel

Configuration ...

Get CCNP Routing and Switching Quick Reference Library: ROUTE 300-101, SWITCH 300-115, and TSHOOT 300-135 Quick References now with the O’Reilly learning platform.

O’Reilly members experience books, live events, courses curated by job role, and more from O’Reilly and nearly 200 top publishers.