How to configure link aggregation in CacheFlow 3.x

Products

• CacheFlow Appliance Software

Issue/Introduction

 How to configure link aggregation in CacheFlow 3.x

Resolution

 

 

 

 

CacheFlow version 3.x (and later) software supports link aggregation using LACP (Link Aggregation Control Protocol) to provide greater than 1 Gbps throughout on a CacheFlow appliance which has 1GigE cards only. When deployed in a network, the CacheFlow appliance can use LACP to communicate with a switch that is also configured for LACP.

The switch and the CacheFlow appliance must be cabled port-to-port. Because each adapter on the CacheFlow appliance has four ports only, an aggregate link on the CacheFlow appliance can connect to four ports maximum on the switch. To avoid possible performance impact, ensure the switch is not oversubscribed.

Notes:

• CacheFlow appliances treat aggregate links as logical network interfaces. The CacheFlow appliance supports configuration of two aggregate links. For ease of configuration, the link identifiers aggr:0 and aggr:1 are pre-created and cannot be deleted.
• CacheFlow LACP is supported with 1 Gbps interfaces that have 1 Gbps full duplex links only. 10 Gbps interfaces cannot be aggregated.
• Physical interfaces in any one aggregate must come from the same adapter. Interfaces from different adapters cannot be aggregated (i.e. 0:1 and 1:2).
• An aggregate with no physical interface assigned to it will not have a MAC address. The aggregate is assigned the MAC address of the first interface added to it.
• In a CacheGroup deployment the set of physical interfaces belonging to an aggregate link must be the same on all appliances in the cache group.

Configuration Example:

Edit an aggregate

#(config)interface aggr:0

Add interfaces

(config interface aggr:0)add 0:1

ok

#(config interface aggr:0)add 0:2

ok

#(config interface aggr:0)add 0:3

ok

Set the IP address

#(config interface aggr:0)ip-address 10.10.10.10 255.255.255.0

ok