13 PowerEdge FX2 – FN I/O Module – VLT Deployment Guide | Version 2.24.1 Benefits of VLTIn a non-Virtual Link Trunking (VLT) environment utilizing spanning tree protocol, as in Figure 8,redundancy involves idle equipment and increased costs with no added value in the event of a devicefailure. On the other hand, in a VLT environment (Figure 9), all paths are active, utilizing all availablelinks and switches to their fullest potential. This doubles the throughput, thus increasing performanceand adding immediate value.Non-VLTEnvironmentActive PathIdleNon-VLT Environment with Active/Passive (Standby)VLTEnvironmentActive PathVLT Active-Active EnvironmentVLT also takes advantage of teamed Network Interface Cards (NICs) and switch pairs, causing themto appear as a single switch to devices outside the VLT domain. The physical versus logicalconnectivity, using a pair of FN IOMs in a PowerEdge FX2 chassis, is illustrated below in Figure 10and Figure 11.
