Reference Guide

NIC Teaming
Network interface controller (NIC) teaming is available on the Z-Series platform.
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.
The following illustration shows a topology where two NICs have been teamed together. In this case, if the primary NIC
fails, traffic switches to the secondary NIC because they are represented by the same set of addresses.
Figure 55. Redundant NICs with NIC Teaming
When you use NIC teaming, consider that the server MAC address is originally learned on Port 0/1 of the switch (shown
in the following) and Port 0/5 is the failover port. When the NIC fails, the system automatically sends an ARP request for
the gateway or host NIC to resolve the ARP and refresh the egress interface. When the ARP is resolved, the same MAC
address is learned on the same port where the ARP is resolved (in the previous example, this location is Port 0/5 of the
switch). To ensure that the MAC address is disassociated with one port and re-associated with another port in the ARP
table, configure the mac-address-table station-move refresh-arp command on the Dell Networking
switch at the time that NIC teaming is being configured on the server.
NOTE: If you do not configure the mac-address-table station-move refresh-arp command, traffic
continues to be forwarded to the failed NIC until the ARP entry on the switch times out.
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