Dell NetWorker 19.9 Administration Guide

NIC Teaming

NIC Teaming is a term that describes the use of multiple network interfaces in parallel. NIC teaming increases the link speed beyond the limits of any one cable or any one port and increases redundancy for higher availability.

Other terms for NIC Teaming include link aggregation, Ethernet trunk, port channel, port teaming, port trunking, link bundling, EtherChannel, Multi-Link Trunking (MLT), and NIC bonding.

NIC Teaming at the TCP level, regardless of the protocol or algorithm used, has no effect on a single TCP session. When you combine multiple links into a single link, the backup performance of a single session does not improve.

Depending on the algorithm used, starting parallel backup jobs with multiple NICs produces load balancing and can improve backup performance. To achieve load balancing, use a TCP session-based link aggregation algorithm and not a host-based algorithm. For example, use the IEEE 803.3ad/802.1ax Link Aggregation Control Protocol (LACP).

The use of trunked interfaces is transparent from a NetWorker point of view and the configuration of trunked interfaces inside NetWorker does not differ from the configuration of stand-alone interfaces. You can combine TCP trunking with multihoming, for example, by trunking some NICs on the system and leaving other NICs to work on separate subnets.