Bonding Ethernet Ports

Prerequisites

Ethernet ports to be bonded are not configured with any IP addresses.

Context

• Port bonding provides more bandwidth and link redundancy. Although ports are bonded, each host still transmits data through a single port and the total bandwidth can be increased only when there are multiple hosts. Determine whether to bond ports based on site requirements.
• Port bonding on a storage system has the following restrictions:
  • Only Ethernet ports with the same rate on a same controller can be bonded. A maximum of eight Ethernet ports can be bonded as a bond port.
  • Ethernet ports on a SmartIO interface module cannot be bonded if they are in cluster or FC mode or run FCoE service in FCoE/iSCSI mode.
  • The MTU of bonded SmartIO ports must be the same as that of the hosts.
  • Read-only users are unable to bond Ethernet ports.
  • A port can only be added to one bond port.
  • A member in a port group cannot be added to a bond port.
• After Ethernet ports are bonded, MTU changes to the default value and you must set the link aggregation mode for the ports. On Huawei switches, you must set the ports to work in static LACP mode.

  The link aggregation modes vary with switch manufacturers. If a non-Huawei switch is used, contact technical support of the switch manufacturer for specific link aggregation configurations.

Procedure

1. Log in to DeviceManager.
2. Choose Provisioning > Port > Bond Ports.
3. Click Create.

   The Create Bond Port dialog box is displayed.

4. Set the name, controller, interface module, and ports that can be bonded.
   1. Specify Name for the bond port.

      The name:

      • Contains only letters, digits, underscores (_), periods (.), and hyphens (-).
      • Contains 1 to 31 characters.
   2. From Controller, select the owning controller of the Ethernet ports to be bonded.
   3. Specify Interface Module.
   4. From Available Ports, select the Ethernet ports you want to bond.
      • Select at least two ports.
      • The port name format is controller enclosure ID.interface module ID.port ID.
   5. Click OK.

      The security alert dialog box is displayed.

5. Confirm the bonding of the Ethernet ports.
   1. Confirm the information in the dialog box and select I have read and understand the consequences associated with performing this operation.
   2. Click OK.

      The Success dialog box is displayed, indicating that the operation succeeded.

   3. Click OK.