This video describes about E-port-channel refers to the aggregation of multiple E-ports into one logical interface to provide higher aggregated bandwidth, load balancing, and link redundancy. Here you learn how to configure an E Port Channel.
Welcome to Dell Technologies Connectrix Cisco MDS: How to Series. How to create E-port-channel using CLI and DCNM. Reference Dell Knowledge Article number 000011183. This video was created to: Demonstrate how to configure E-port-channel using CLI and DCNM.
This video presents the following: An E-port-channel refers to the aggregation of multiple E ports into one logical interface to provide higher aggregated bandwidth, load balancing and link redundancy. Port-channels can connect to interfaces across switching modules, so a failure of a switching module cannot bring down the port-channel link. It provides a point-to-point connection over ISL, (E ports), or extended ISL (TE ports).
When to do this: When you want to have an increased aggregate bandwidth on an ISL by distributing traffic among all functional links in the channel. Load balance across multiple links and maintains optimum bandwidth utilization. Load balancing is based on the source ID, destination ID, and exchange ID. Provides high availability on an ISL. If one link fails, traffic previously carried on this link is switched to the remaining links.
The routing tables are not affected by link failure. Port-channels may contain up to 16 physical links and may span multiple modules for added high availability. Before you begin: A port can be configured as a member of a static port-channel only if the following configurations are same in the port and the port-channel. Speed. Mode. Rate mode. Port VSAN. Trunking mode. Allowed VSAN list or VF-ID list.
After the members are added, the ports at either end are gracefully brought down, indicating that no frames are lost when the interface is going down. Let us configure "port-channel 1" on Fabric A using CLI and configure "port-channel 2" on Fabric B using DCNM. Log in to "MDS-9100-A" and "MDS-9200-A" switches. Check the interface status of ports "fc1/2" and "fc1/3" on both switches. Configure port-channel with ID "1" between these switches on ports "fc1/2" and "fc1/3". Verify the port-channel using the command "show port-channel summary".
You can see that two ports are added to the port-channel. Wait for a few seconds and recheck the status. You can now see that two ports are operational. The first operational port is the primary operational interface selected in the port-channel to carry control-plane traffic. FOP is the first port that comes up in a port-channel and can change if the port goes down. Verify the port-channel configuration. The first operational port, "FOP", is also identified by an asterisk. Verify the current state of the interface port-channel 1.
Now, let us create the second port-channel using GUI. In the "Cisco DCNM Unified Client", click "Configure" and select "Port Channel". Click the "Create New Port Channel" button to start the wizard. In the first page of the wizard, choose the row that contains a connection between MDS 9100 B and "MDS 9200 B" to create a port-channel. Click "Next" to continue. Ensure that both the links are selected to be members of the port-channel.
Then click "Next". Cisco DCNM Unified Client allows you to create a port-channel between two switches, configuring both of them simultaneously with corresponding settings. This ability minimizes the possibility for misconfiguration and simplifies the configuration process. Configure port-channel with ID "2". Enable the trunk and allow only VSAN "201" to use extended ISL. Click "Finish" to complete the wizard.
Click "Yes" to confirm that you want to continue and understand that port-channel creation process can be disruptive. A new pop-up window with a notification about successful status of the previous operation appears. Click "OK" to close it and continue. Click the "Close" button to exit the port-channel wizard. To accelerate the information update about the newly configured port-channel in DCNM Unified Client, navigate to "Inventory", Discovery, and "SAN" switches. Choose your "SAN_Fabric_B" and click the "Rediscover" button.
Verify the port-channel configuration. Click the "Topology" section in the main menu. You will see a sign of port-channel in both the fabrics. If you hover the pointer at that port-channel sign, you will see brief information about the port-channel. If you double-click the port-channel on the "Topology", you will get more detailed information about that port-channel. Using the CLI, verify the status of "port-channel 2".
All physical ports in the port-channel should be up and running. Important notes: If you misconfigure port-channels, you may receive a misconfiguration message and the port-channel's physical links are disabled because an error has been detected. A port-channel error is detected if the following requirements are not met. Each switch on either side of a port-channel must be connected to the same number of interfaces.
Each interface must be connected to a corresponding interface on the other side. Links in a port-channel cannot be changed after the port-channel is configured. If you change the links after the port-channel is configured, be sure to reconnect the links to interfaces within the port-channel and re-enable the links. Cisco MDS 9000 Family switches support the following number of port-channels per switch: Switches with only Generation 1 switching modules do not support F and TF port-channels. Switches with Generation 1 switching modules or a combination of Generation 1 and Generation 2 switching modules support a maximum of 128 port-channels.
Only Generation 2 ports can be included in the port-channels. Switches with only Generation 2 switching modules or Generation 2 and Generation 3 modules support a maximum of 256 port-channels with 16 interfaces per port-channel. A port-channel number refers to the unique identifier for each channel group. This number ranges from 1 to 256. Refer to the following for more information: Knowledge Article number 000011183. Cisco MDS 9000 Family CLI Configuration Guide. Chapter: Configuring Port-Channels.
Thank you for watching.
