Link aggregation

"IEEE 802.3ad" redirects here. Not to be confused with IEEE 802.1ad.

Link aggregation between a switch and a server

In computer networking, link aggregation is the combining (aggregating) of multiple network connections in parallel by any of several methods. Link aggregation increases total throughput beyond what a single connection could sustain, and provides redundancy where all but one of the physical links may fail without losing connectivity. A link aggregation group (LAG) is the combined collection of physical ports.

Other umbrella terms used to describe the concept include trunking,[1] bundling,[2] bonding,[1] channeling[3] or teaming.

Implementation may follow vendor-independent standards such as Link Aggregation Control Protocol (LACP) for Ethernet, defined in IEEE 802.1AX or the previous IEEE 802.3ad, but also proprietary protocols.

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