Concept Guide

The port channel ID ranges from 1 to 128.
As soon as you congure a port channel, Dell EMC Networking OS treats it like a physical interface. For example, IEEE 802.1Q tagging is
maintained while the physical interface is in the port channel.
Member ports of a LAG are added and programmed into the hardware in a predictable order based on the port ID, instead of in the order in
which the ports come up. With this implementation, load balancing yields predictable results across device reloads.
A physical interface can belong to only one port channel at a time.
Each port channel must contain interfaces of the same interface type/speed.
Port channels can contain a mix of 1G/10G/40G. The interface speed that the port channel uses is determined by the rst port channel
member that is physically up. Dell EMC Networking OS disables the interfaces that do not match the interface speed that the rst channel
member sets. That rst interface may be either the interface that is physically brought up rst or was physically operating when interfaces
were added to the port channel. For example, if the rst operational interface in the port channel is a Tengigabit Ethernet interface, all
interfaces at 10000 Mbps are kept up, and all other interfaces that are not set to 10G speed or auto negotiate are disabled.
Dell EMC Networking OS brings up the interfaces that are set to auto negotiate so that their speed is identical to the speed of the rst
channel member in the port channel.
Interfaces in Port Channels
When interfaces are added to a port channel, the interfaces must share a common speed. When interfaces have a congured speed
dierent from the port channel speed, the software disables those interfaces.
The common speed is determined when the port channel is rst enabled. Then, the software checks the rst interface listed in the port
channel conguration. If you enabled that interface, its speed conguration becomes the common speed of the port channel. If the other
interfaces congured in that port channel are congured with a dierent speed, Dell EMC Networking OS disables them.
Port channels can contain a mix of 1G/10G/40G. The interface speed that the port channel uses is determined by the rst port channel
member that is physically up. Dell EMC Networking OS disables the interfaces that do not match the interface speed that the rst channel
member sets. That rst interface may be either the interface that is physically brought up rst or was physically operating when interfaces
were added to the port channel. For example, if the rst operational interface in the port channel is a Tengigabit Ethernet interface, all
interfaces at 10000 Mbps are kept up, and all other interfaces that are not set to 10G speed or auto negotiate are disabled.
Dell EMC Networking OS brings up the interfaces that are set to auto negotiate so that their speed is identical to the speed of the rst
channel member in the port channel.
Conguration Tasks for Port Channel Interfaces
To congure a port channel (LAG), use the commands similar to those found in physical interfaces. By default, no port channels are
congured in the startup conguration.
These are the mandatory and optional conguration tasks:
• Creating a Port Channel (mandatory)
• Adding a Physical Interface to a Port Channel (mandatory)
• Reassigning an Interface to a New Port Channel (optional)
• Conguring the Minimum Oper Up Links in a Port Channel (optional)
• Adding or Removing a Port Channel from a VLAN (optional)
• Assigning an IP Address to a Port Channel (optional)
• Deleting or Disabling a Port Channel (optional)
• Load Balancing Through Port Channels (optional)
Interfaces
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