LevelOne GEP-5070, User Manual

Page: 119 / 318

C
HAPTER
4
| Configuring the Switch
Creating Trunk Groups
– 119 –
Figure 41: Authentication Configuration
C
REATING
T
RUNK
G
ROUPS
You can create multiple links between devices that work as one virtual,
aggregate link. A port trunk offers a dramatic increase in bandwidth for
network segments where bottlenecks exist, as well as providing a fault-
tolerant link between two switches.
The switch supports both static trunking and dynamic Link Aggregation
Control Protocol (LACP). Static trunks have to be manually configured at
both ends of the link, and the switches must comply with the Cisco
EtherChannel standard. On the other hand, LACP configured ports can
automatically negotiate a trunked link with LACP-configured ports on
another device. You can configure any number of ports on the switch to use
LACP, as long as they are not already configured as part of a static trunk. If
ports on another device are also configured to use LACP, the switch and the
other device will negotiate a trunk between them. If an LACP trunk consists
of more than eight ports, all other ports will be placed in standby mode.
Should one link in the trunk fail, one of the standby ports will automatically
be activated to replace it.