Broadcom Gigabit Ethernet Teaming ServicesNetXtreme User Guide
Broadcom
®
April 2017 • 2CS57XX-CDUM514-R Page 132
Frequently Asked Questions
Question: Under what circumstances is traffic not load balanced? Why is all traffic not load balanced
evenly across the team members?
Answer: The bulk of traffic does not use IP/TCP/UDP or the bulk of the clients are in a different network.
The receive load balancing is not a function of traffic load, but a function of the number of clients
that are connected to the system.
Question: What network protocols are load balanced when in a team?
Answer: Broadcom’s teaming software only supports IP/TCP/UDP traffic. All other traffic is forwarded to
the primary adapter.
Question: Which protocols are load balanced with SLB and which ones are not?
Answer: Only IP/TCP/UDP protocols are load balanced in both directions: send and receive.
Question: Can I team a port running at 100 Mbps with a port running at 1000 Mbps?
Answer: Mixing link speeds within a team is only supported for Smart Load Balancing™ teams and
802.3ad teams, as stated earlier.
Question: Can I team a fiber adapter with a copper Gigabit Ethernet adapter?
Answer: Yes with SLB, and yes if the switch allows for it in FEC/GEC and 802.3ad.
Question: What is the difference between adapter load balancing and Microsoft’s Network Load Balancing
(NLB)?
Answer: Adapter load balancing is done at a network session level, whereas NLB is done at the system
application level.
Question: Can I connect the teamed adapters to ports in a router?
Answer: No. All ports in a team must be on the same network; in a router, however, each port is a
separate network by definition. All teaming modes require that the link partner be a Layer 2
switch.
Question: Can I use teaming with Microsoft Cluster Services?
Answer: Yes. Teaming is supported on the public network only, not on the private network used for the
heartbeat link.
Question: Can PXE work over a virtual adapter (team)?
Answer: A PXE client operates in an environment before the operating system is loaded; as a result,
virtual adapters have not been enabled yet. If the physical adapter supports PXE, then it can be
used as a PXE client, whether or not it is part of a virtual adapter when the operating system
loads. PXE servers may operate over a virtual adapter.
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