CHAPTER 4
Configuring Port Channels
This chapter contains the following sections:
• Information About Port Channels, page 45
• Configuring Port Channels, page 54
• Verifying Port Channel Configuration, page 63
• Verifying the Load-Balancing Outgoing Port ID , page 64
Information About Port Channels
A port channel bundles individual interfaces into a group to provide increased bandwidth and redundancy.
Port channeling also load balances traffic across these physical interfaces. The port channel stays operational
as long as at least one physical interface within the port channel is operational.
You create an port channel by bundling compatible interfaces. You can configure and run either static port
channels or port channels running the Link Aggregation Control Protocol (LACP).
Any configuration changes that you apply to the port channel are applied to each member interface of that
port channel. For example, if you configure Spanning Tree Protocol (STP) parameters on the port channel,
Cisco NX-OS applies those parameters to each interface in the port channel.
You can use static port channels, with no associated protocol, for a simplified configuration. For more efficient
use of the port channel, you can use the Link Aggregation Control Protocol (LACP), which is defined in IEEE
802.3ad. When you use LACP, the link passes protocol packets.
Related Topics
LACP Overview, on page 51
Understanding Port Channels
Using port channels, Cisco NX-OS provides wider bandwidth, redundancy, and load balancing across the
channels.
You can collect ports into a static port channel or you can enable the Link Aggregation Control Protocol
(LACP). Configuring port channels with LACP requires slightly different steps than configuring static port
Cisco Nexus 5000 Series NX-OS Interfaces Configuration Guide, Release 5.2(1)N1(1)
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