Broadcom Teaming Services: Broadcom NetXtreme II® Network Adapter User Guide
file:///C|/Users/Nalina_N_S/Documents/NetXtremeII/English/teamsvcs.htm[9/5/2014 3:45:08 PM]
Table 4 provides a feature comparison across the team types supported by Dell. Use this table to determine the best type of
team for your application. The teaming software supports up to eight ports in a single team and up to 16 teams in a single
system. These teams can be any combination of the supported teaming types, but each team must be on a separate network
or subnet.
Table 4: Comparison of Team Types
Type of Team
Fault
Tolerance
Load
Balancing
Switch-Dependent
Static Trunking
Switch-
Independent
Dynamic Link
Aggregation
(IEEE
802.3ad)
Function
SLB with
Standby
a
SLB Generic Trunking
Link
Aggregation
Number of ports per team (same broadcast domain) 2–8 2–8 2–8 2–8
Number of teams 16 16 16 16
Adapter fault tolerance Yes Yes Yes Yes
Switch link fault tolerance (same broadcast domain) Yes Yes Switch-dependent
Switch-
dependent
TX load balancing No Yes Yes Yes
RX load balancing No Yes
Yes (performed by
the switch)
Yes (performed
by the switch)
Requires compatible switch No No Yes Yes
Heartbeats to check connectivity No No No No
Mixed media (adapters with different media) Yes Yes
Yes (switch-
dependent)
Yes
Mixed speeds (adapters that do not support a common
speed(s), but can operate at different speeds)
Yes Yes No No
Mixed speeds (adapters that support a common
speed(s), but can operate at different speeds)
Yes Yes
No (must be the
same speed)
Yes
Load balances TCP/IP No Yes Yes Yes
Mixed vendor teaming
Yes
b
Yes
b
Yes
b
Yes
b
Load balances non-IP No
Yes (IPX
outbound traffic
only)
Yes Yes
Same MAC address for all team members No No Yes Yes
Same IP address for all team members Yes Yes Yes Yes
Load balancing by IP address No Yes Yes Yes
Load balancing by MAC address No
Yes (used for
no-IP/IPX)
Yes Yes
Allows TOE functionality to co-exist when all team
members support TOE
c
Yes Yes No No
a
SLB with one primary and one standby member.
b
Requires at least one Broadcom adapter in the team.
c TOE functionality can only be achieved with SLB teams that consist of all Broadcom TOE-enabled adapters.
Selecting a Team Type
The following flow chart provides the decision flow when planning for Layer 2 teaming. For TOE teaming, only Smart Load
Balancing™ and Failover type team is supported. The primary rationale for teaming is the need for additional network
bandwidth and fault tolerance. Teaming offers link aggregation and fault tolerance to meet both of these requirements.
Preference teaming should be selected in the following order: Link Aggregation as the first choice, Generic Trunking as the
second choice, and SLB teaming as the third choice when using unmanaged switches or switches that do not support the first
two options. if switch fault tolerance is a requirement, then SLB is the only choice (see Figure 1).
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