Portchannel Modes - Cisco MDS 9000 Series Configuration Manual

Configuring PortChannels
Figure 14: SID1, DID1, and Exchange-Based Load Balancing
For more information on configuring load balancing and in-order delivery features, see the
Series NX-OS Fabric Configuration

PortChannel Modes

You can configure each PortChannel with a channel group mode parameter to determine the PortChannel
protocol behavior for all member ports in this channel group. The possible values for a channel group mode
are as follows:
• ON (default)—The member ports only operate as part of a PortChannel or remain inactive. In this mode,
• ACTIVE—The member ports initiate PortChannel protocol negotiation with the peer port(s) regardless
Table 27: Channel Group Configuration Differences , on page 224
the PortChannel protocol is not initiated. However, if a PortChannel protocol frame is received from a
peer port, the software indicates its nonnegotiable status. This mode is backward compatible with the
existing implementation of PortChannels in releases prior to Release 2.0(1b), where the channel group
mode is implicitly assumed to be ON. In Cisco MDS SAN-OS Releases 1.3 and earlier, the only available
PortChannel mode was the ON mode. PortChannels configured in the ON mode require you to explicitly
enable and disable the PortChannel member ports at either end if you add or remove ports from the
PortChannel configuration. You must physically verify that the local and remote ports are connected to
each other.
of the channel group mode of the peer port. If the peer port, while configured in a channel group, does
not support the PortChannel protocol, or responds with a nonnegotiable status, it will default to the ON
mode behavior. The ACTIVE PortChannel mode allows automatic recovery without explicitly enabling
and disabling the PortChannel member ports at either end.
Guide.
Cisco MDS 9000 Series Interfaces Configuration Guide, Release 8.x
PortChannel Modes
Cisco MDS 9000
compares ON and ACTIVE modes.
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