Broadcom NetXtreme BCM57 Series, User Manual

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Broadcom Gigabit Ethernet Teaming Services NetXtreme User Guide
Broadcom
®
April 2017 • 2CS57XX-CDUM514-R Page 104
Teaming Concepts
• Network Addressing
• Teaming and Network Addresses
• Description of Teaming Types
Network Addressing
To understand how teaming works, it is important to understand how node communications work in an Ethernet
network. This document is based on the assumption that the reader is familiar with the basics of IP and Ethernet
network communications. The following information provides a high-level overview of the concepts of network
addressing used in an Ethernet network.
Every Ethernet network interface in a host platform, such as a computer system, requires a globally unique
Layer 2 address and at least one globally unique Layer 3 address. Layer 2 is the Data Link Layer, and Layer 3
is the Network layer as defined in the OSI model. The Layer 2 address is assigned to the hardware and is often
referred to as the MAC address or physical address. This address is pre-programmed at the factory and stored
in NVRAM on a network interface card or on the system motherboard for an embedded LAN interface. The Layer
3 addresses are referred to as the protocol or logical address assigned to the software stack. IP is an example
of a Layer 3 protocol. In addition, Layer 4 (Transport Layer) uses port numbers for each network upper level
protocol such as Telnet or FTP. These port numbers are used to differentiate traffic flows across applications.
Layer 4 protocols such as TCP or UDP are most commonly used in today’s networks. The combination of the
IP address and the TCP port number is called a socket.
Ethernet devices communicate with other Ethernet devices using the MAC address, not the IP address.
However, most applications work with a host name that is translated to an IP address by a Naming Service such
as WINS and DNS. Therefore, a method of identifying the MAC address assigned to the IP address is required.
The Address Resolution Protocol for an IP network provides this mechanism. A unicast address corresponds to
a single MAC address or a single IP address. A broadcast address is sent to all devices on a network.
Smart Load Balancing (SLB) Switch-independent load balancing and failover type of team, in which the
intermediate driver manages outgoing/incoming traffic.
TCP Transmission Control Protocol
UDP User Datagram Protocol
WINS Windows name service
WLBS Windows Load Balancing Service
Table 8: Teaming Glossary
Item Definition