Interface Configuration
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Instruction Manual - NXA-ENET8-POE+
Trunk Configuration
This section describes how to configure static and dynamic trunks.
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 devices. You can
create up to 16 trunks at a time on the switch, or up to 32 across the stack.
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 as LACP, as long as they are not already configured as part of a static trunk. If ports on another
device are also configured as LACP, the switch and the other device will negotiate a trunk link 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.
Command Usage
Besides balancing the load across each port in the trunk, the other ports provide redundancy by taking over the load if a port in the
trunk fails. However, before making any physical connections between devices, use the web interface or CLI to specify the trunk on
the devices at both ends. When using a trunk, take note of the following points:
• Finish configuring trunks before you connect the corresponding network cables between switches to avoid creating a loop.
• You can create up to 16 trunks on a switch or 32 trunks in the stack, with up to eight ports per trunk.
• The ports at both ends of a connection must be configured as trunk ports.
• When configuring static trunks on switches of different types, they must be compatible with the Cisco EtherChannel standard.
• The ports at both ends of a trunk must be configured in an identical manner, including communication mode (i.e., speed, duplex mode
and flow control), VLAN assignments, and CoS settings.
• Any of the Gigabit ports on the front panel can be trunked together, including ports of different media types.
• All the ports in a trunk have to be treated as a whole when moved from/to, added or deleted from a VLAN.
• STP, VLAN, and IGMP settings can only be made for the entire trunk.
Configuring a Static Trunk
Use the Interface > Trunk > Static page to create a trunk, assign member ports, and configure the connection parameters.
Command Usage
When configuring static trunks, you may not be able to link switches of different types, depending on the vendor's
implementation. However, note that the static trunks on this switch are Cisco EtherChannel compatible.
To avoid creating a loop in the network, be sure you add a static trunk via the configuration interface before connecting the
ports, and also disconnect the ports before removing a static trunk via the configuration interface.
FIG. 62
Configuring Static Trunks
active
links
statically
configured