DELL N3000 User Manual

Configuring Link Aggregation

This chapter describes how to create and configure link aggregation groups 

(LAGs), which are also known as port-channels.
The topics covered in this chapter include:

• Link Aggregation
• Multi-Switch LAG (MLAG)

Link Aggregation allows one or more full-duplex Ethernet links of the same 

speed to be aggregated together to form a LAG. This allows the switch to 

treat the LAG as if it is a single link. The Dell Networking series switches 

support industry-standard LAGs that adhere to the IEEE 802.3ad 

specification. 
Assignment of interfaces to dynamic LAGs is based on a maximum of 144 

interfaces assigned to dynamic LAGs, a maximum of 72 dynamic LAGs and a 

maximum of 8 interfaces per dynamic LAG. For example, 72 LAGs may be 

assigned 2 interfaces each, or 18 LAGs may be assigned 8 interfaces each.
Each LAG can consist of up to eight 1 Gbps or eight 10 Gbps ports (or even 

eight 40 Gbps interfaces). When eight Gigabit Ethernet ports are configured 

as a LAG, the maximum bandwidth for the single, logical interface is 8 Gbps, 

and when eight 10 Gbps ports are configured as a LAG, the maximum 

bandwidth for the single, logical interface is 80 Gbps.
Figure 28-1 shows an example of a switch in the wiring closet connected to a 

switch in the data center by a LAG that consists of four physical 10 Gbps 

links. The LAG provides full-duplex bandwidth of 40 Gbps between the two 

switches.