Adaptec ANA-62000, User Manual

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DuraLAN Fast Ethernet NICs User’s Guide
FEC (Fast EtherChannel)
Fast EtherChannel® (FEC) is a technology developed by Cisco
Systems based on standard Fast Ethernet used in parallel to provide
the additional bandwidth network backbones required today. FEC
combines two or four Fast Ethernet links to single logical connection
capable of carrying 800 Mbits/sec of aggregate full-duplex
throughput. In addition to scalable bandwidth, the technology also
provides fault tolerance and resiliency, protecting the network from
outages due to failed links.
Fast EtherChannel allows grouping of DuraLAN ports or NICs
allowing full utilization of available bandwidth (up to
800 Mbits/sec). Up to four single port NICs, 2 two port NICs, or 1
four port NIC can be grouped. This technology also provides load
balancing and management of each link by distributing traffic across
multiple links in the channel. In addition, FEC technology provides
redundancy in the event of link failure.
Duralink64 v4.2 software and all of Adaptec DuraLAN NICs
support Fast EtherChannel technology, allowing redundancy and
high-speed aggregation between switches and servers.
Fast EtherChannel is available on select Cisco Catalyst switches and
Cisco routers.
For additional information on Cisco’s Fast EtherChannel technology,
visit the Cisco Systems web site:
http://www.cisco.com/warp/public/729/fec