Lustre 1.6 Operations Manual

CHAPTER 12
Bonding
This chapter describes how to set up bonding with Lustre, and includes the
following sections:
■ Network Bonding
■ Requirements
■ Using Lustre with Multiple NICs versus Bonding NICs
■ Bonding Module Parameters
■ Setting Up Bonding
■ Configuring Lustre with Bonding
12.1 Network Bonding
Bonding, also known as link aggregation, trunking and port trunking, is a method of
aggregating multiple physical network links into a single logical link for increased
bandwidth.
Several different types of bonding are supported in Linux. All these types are
referred to as “modes,” and use the bonding kernel module.
Modes 0 to 3 provide support for load balancing and fault tolerance by using
multiple interfaces. Mode 4 aggregates a group of interfaces into a single virtual
interface where all members of the group share the same speed and duplex settings.
This mode is described under IEEE spec 802.3ad, and it is referred to as either “mode
4” or “802.3ad.”
(802.3ad refers to mode 4 only. The detail is contained in Clause 43 of the IEEE 8 -
the larger 802.3 specification. For more information, consult IEEE.)
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