Reference Guide

Layer 2 | 479
NIC Teaming
NIC teaming is a feature that allows multiple network interface cards in a server to be represented by one
MAC address and one IP address in order to provide transparent redundancy, balancing, and to fully utilize
network adapter resources.
Figure 22-2 shows a topology where two NICs have been teamed together. In this case, if the primary NIC
fails, traffic switches to the secondary NIC, since they are represented by the same set of addresses.
Figure 22-2. Redundant NICs with NIC Teaming
When NIC teaming is employed, consider that the server MAC address is originally learned on Port 0/1 of
the switch (Figure 22-3). When the NIC fails, the same MAC address is learned on Port 0/5 of the switch.
The MAC address must be disassociated with the one port and re-associated with another in the ARP table;
in other words, the ARP entry must be “moved”. To ensure that this happens, you must configure the
command
mac-address-table station-move refresh-arp on the Dell Force10 switch at the time that NIC
teaming is being configured on the server.
FTOS#show mac learning-limit
Interface Vlan Learning Dynamic Static Unknown SA
Slot/port Id Limit MAC count MAC count Drops
Gi 5/84 2 2 0 0 0
Gi 5/84 * 5 0 0 0
Gi 5/85 3 3 0 0 0
Gi 5/85 * 10 0 0 0
FTOS#show mac learning-limit interface gig 5/84
Interface Vlan Learning Dynamic Static Unknown SA
Slot/port Id Limit MAC count MAC count Drops
Gi 5/84 2 2 0 0 0
Gi 5/84 * 5 0 0 0
FTOS#show mac learning-limit interface gig 5/84 vlan 2
Interface Vlan Learning Dynamic Static Unknown SA
Slot/port Id Limit MAC count MAC count Drops
Gi 5/84 2 2 0 0 0
Task Command Syntax Command Mode
MAC: A:B
A:B:C:D
IP: 1.1.1.1
fnC0025mp
X
Port 0/1
Port 0/5
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