What is Etherchannel ? How to use it?

EtherChannel is a technology used in networking to create a logical link aggregation or link bundling of multiple physical Ethernet links into a single logical link, providing increased bandwidth, improved redundancy, and load balancing across the bundled links. It is also known as Link Aggregation, Port Channel, or Port Aggregation.

EtherChannel is typically used in environments where high bandwidth and redundancy are required, such as data centers, server farms, or backbone networks. It allows multiple physical links between network devices, such as switches or routers, to be treated as a single logical link, effectively increasing the aggregated bandwidth and providing fault tolerance.

Core Switch -1 Configuration

Switch>en
able
Switch#configure terminal
Enter configuration commands, one per line.  End with CNTL/Z.
Switch(config)#hostname CORESW1
CORESW1(config)#interface range g1/0/1-3
CORESW1(config-if-range)#channel-group 1 mode active
CORESW1(config-if-range)#
Creating a port-channel interface Port-channel 1

%LINEPROTO-5-UPDOWN: Line protocol on Interface GigabitEthernet1/0/1, changed state to down
%LINEPROTO-5-UPDOWN: Line protocol on Interface GigabitEthernet1/0/1, changed state to up
%LINEPROTO-5-UPDOWN: Line protocol on Interface GigabitEthernet1/0/2, changed state to down
%LINEPROTO-5-UPDOWN: Line protocol on Interface GigabitEthernet1/0/2, changed state to up
%LINEPROTO-5-UPDOWN: Line protocol on Interface GigabitEthernet1/0/3, changed state to down
%LINEPROTO-5-UPDOWN: Line protocol on Interface GigabitEthernet1/0/3, changed state to up

CORESW1(config-if-range)#no shutdown
CORESW1(config-if-range)#exit
CORESW1(config)#do wr
Building configuration...
Compressed configuration from 7383 bytes to 3601 bytes[OK]
[OK]
CORESW1(config)#

Core Switch -2 Configuration

Switch>enable
Switch#configure terminal
Enter configuration commands, one per line.  End with CNTL/Z.
Switch(config)#hostname CORESW2
CORESW2(config)#interface range g1/0/1-3
CORESW2(config-if-range)#channel-group 1 mode active
CORESW2(config-if-range)#
Creating a port-channel interface Port-channel 1

%LINEPROTO-5-UPDOWN: Line protocol on Interface GigabitEthernet1/0/1, changed state to down
%LINEPROTO-5-UPDOWN: Line protocol on Interface GigabitEthernet1/0/1, changed state to up
%LINEPROTO-5-UPDOWN: Line protocol on Interface GigabitEthernet1/0/2, changed state to down
%LINEPROTO-5-UPDOWN: Line protocol on Interface GigabitEthernet1/0/2, changed state to up
%LINEPROTO-5-UPDOWN: Line protocol on Interface GigabitEthernet1/0/3, changed state to down
%LINEPROTO-5-UPDOWN: Line protocol on Interface GigabitEthernet1/0/3, changed state to up
%LINK-5-CHANGED: Interface Port-channel1, changed state to up
%LINEPROTO-5-UPDOWN: Line protocol on Interface Port-channel1, changed state to up

CORESW2(config-if-range)#no shutdown
CORESW2(config-if-range)#exit
CORESW2(config)#do wr
Building configuration...
Compressed configuration from 7383 bytes to 3601 bytes[OK]
[OK]
CORESW2(config)#

CORESW1#show etherchannel summary
Flags:  D - down        P - in port-channel
        I - stand-alone s - suspended
        H - Hot-standby (LACP only)
        R - Layer3      S - Layer2
        U - in use      f - failed to allocate aggregator
        u - unsuitable for bundling
        w - waiting to be aggregated
        d - default port


Number of channel-groups in use: 1
Number of aggregators:           1

Group  Port-channel  Protocol    Ports
------+-------------+-----------+----------------------------------------------

1      Po1(SU)           LACP   Gig1/0/1(P) Gig1/0/2(P) Gig1/0/3(P) 
CORESW1#

Now you can create your VLANs and other PC configurations. They can ping each other.

Please feel free to contact me. Happy networking 🙂

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