Concept Guide

Assigning an IP Address to a Port Channel
You can assign an IP address to a port channel and use port channels in Layer 3 routing protocols.
To assign an IP address, use the following command.
• Congure an IP address and mask on the interface.
INTERFACE mode
ip address ip-address mask [secondary]
– ip-address mask: enter an address in dotted-decimal format (A.B.C.D). The mask must be in slash format (/24).
– secondary: the IP address is the interface’s backup IP address. You can congure up to eight secondary IP addresses.
Deleting or Disabling a Port Channel
To delete or disable a port channel, use the following commands.
• Delete a port channel.
CONFIGURATION mode
no interface portchannel channel-number
• Disable a port channel.
shutdown
When you disable a port channel, all interfaces within the port channel are operationally down also.
Load Balancing Through Port Channels
Dell EMC Networking OS uses hash algorithms for distributing trac evenly over channel members in a port channel (LAG).
The hash algorithm distributes trac among Equal Cost Multi-path (ECMP) paths and LAG members. The distribution is based on a ow,
except for packet-based hashing. A ow is identied by the hash and is assigned to one link. In packet-based hashing, a single ow can be
distributed on the LAG and uses one link.
Packet based hashing is used to load balance trac across a port-channel based on the IP Identier eld within the packet. Load balancing
uses source and destination packet information to get the greatest advantage of resources by distributing trac over multiple paths when
transferring data to a destination.
Dell EMC Networking OS allows you to modify the hashing algorithms used for ows and for fragments. The load-balance and hash-
algorithm commands are available for modifying the distribution algorithms.
Load-Balancing Method
By default, LAG hashing uses the source IP, destination IP, source transmission control protocol (TCP)/user datagram protocol (UDP) port,
and destination TCP/UDP port for hash computation. For packets without a Layer 3 header, Dell EMC Networking OS automatically uses
load-balance mac source-dest-mac.
Do not congure IP hashing or MAC hashing at the same time. If you congure an IP and MAC hashing scheme at the same time, the MAC
hashing scheme takes precedence over the IP hashing scheme.
To change the IP trac load-balancing default, use the following command.
• Replace the default IP 4-tuple method of balancing trac over a port channel.
372
Interfaces