428 | Interfacesw w w . d e l l . c o m | s u p p o r t . d e l l . c o mPort Channel InterfacesPort channel interfaces support link aggregation, as described in IEEE Standard 802.3ad.This section covers the following topics:• Port channel definition and standards on page 428• Port channel benefits on page 428• Port channel implementation on page 428• Configuration task list for port channel interfaces on page 430Port channel definition and standardsLink aggregation is defined by IEEE 802.3ad as a method of grouping multiple physical interfaces into asingle logical interface—a Link Aggregation Group (LAG) or port channel. A LAG is “a group of linksthat appear to a MAC client as if they were a single link” according to IEEE 802.3ad. In FTOS, a LAG isreferred to as a port channel interface.A port channel provides redundancy by aggregating physical interfaces into one logical interface. If onephysical interface goes down in the port channel, another physical interface carries the traffic.Port channel benefitsFor the E-Series, a port channel interface provides many benefits, including easy management, linkredundancy, and sharing.Port channels are transparent to network configurations and can be modified and managed as one interface.For example, you configure one IP address for the group and that IP address is used for all routed traffic onthe port channel.With this feature, the user can create larger-capacity interfaces by utilizing a group of lower-speed links.For example, the user can build a 5-Gigabit interface by aggregating five 1-Gigabit Ethernet interfacestogether. If one of the five interfaces fails, traffic is redistributed across the four remaining interfaces.Port channel implementationFTOS supports two types of port channels:• Static—Port channels that are statically configured
