linkaggregatio

Link aggregation, also known as port trunking, NIC teaming, or bonding, is a technique used in computer networking to combine multiple network connections into a single logical link. This aggregation can increase bandwidth and provide redundancy. By distributing network traffic across several physical links, the overall throughput can be significantly enhanced, approaching the sum of the individual link speeds.

When one of the physical links fails, traffic can automatically be rerouted through the remaining active links, ensuring continuous network connectivity. This redundancy is crucial for mission-critical applications and services where downtime is unacceptable. Link aggregation is typically configured at both the network interface card (NIC) level on a device and on the network switch port it connects to. The devices on both ends must be configured to use compatible link aggregation protocols, such as Link Aggregation Control Protocol (LACP), to establish and manage the aggregated link.

There are different modes of link aggregation, including active-backup, balance-rr (round-robin), and balance-xor, each offering varying levels of performance and fault tolerance. The choice of mode depends on the specific requirements of the network environment. Link aggregation is widely implemented in servers, network storage devices, and high-performance networking equipment to improve reliability and data transfer rates.