All adapters in a Link Aggregation team running in static mode must run at the same speed and must be
connected to a Static Link Aggregation capable switch. If the speed capability of adapters in a Static
Link Aggregation team are different, the speed of the team is dependent on the lowest common
denominator.
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IEEE 802.3ad Dynamic Link Aggregation
- creates one or more teams using Dynamic Link Aggregation
with mixed-speed adapters. Like the Static Link Aggregation teams, Dynamic 802.3ad teams increase
transmission and reception throughput and provide fault tolerance. This teaming type requires a switch
that fully supports the IEEE 802.3ad standard.
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- adds the capability to include adapters from selected other vendors in a
team. If you are using a Windows-based computer, you can team adapters that appear in the Intel
PROSet teaming wizard.
IMPORTANT:
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Be sure to use the latest available drivers on all adapters.
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Before creating a team, adding or removing team members, or changing advanced settings
of a team member, make sure each team member has been configured similarly. Settings
to check include VLANs and QoS Packet Tagging, Jumbo Frames, and the various off-
loads. These settings are available in Intel PROSet's
Advanced
tab.
Pay particular atten-
tion when using different adapter models or adapter versions, as adapter capabilities vary.
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If team members implement Advanced features differently, failover and team functionality
will be affected. To avoid team implementation issues:
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Create teams that use similar adapter types and models.
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Reload the team after adding an adapter or changing any Advanced features. One
way to reload the team is to select a new preferred primary adapter. Although there
will be a temporary loss of network connectivity as the team reconfigures, the team
will maintain its network addressing schema.
NOTES:
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Hot Plug operations for an adapter that is part of a team are only available in Windows
Server.
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For SLA teams, all team members must be connected to the same switch. For AFT, ALB,
and RLB teams, all team members must belong to the same subnet. The members of an
SFT team must be connected to a different switch.
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Teaming only one adapter port is possible, but provides no benefit.
Primary and Secondary Adapters
If the primary adapter fails, another adapter will take over its duties. If you are using more than two adapters,
and you want a specific adapter to take over if the primary fails, you must specify a secondary adapter. If an
Intel AMT enabled device is part of a team, it must be designated as the primary adapter for the team.
There are two types of primary and secondary adapters:
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Default primary adapter:
If you do not specify a preferred primary adapter, the software will choose
an adapter of the highest capability (model and speed) to act as the default primary. If a failover occurs,
another adapter becomes the primary. The adapter will, however, rejoin the team as a non-primary.
