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Layer 2 & Layer 3 EtherChannel

skylite065
Level 1
Level 1

Hi,

What is the difference between Layer 2 & Layer 3 EtherChannel? I need to setup an EtherChannel between two 6500 switches with VLAN trunking. Should I use Layer 2 or Layer 3 EtherChannels? Thanks!

1 Reply 1

a.awan
Level 4
Level 4

A Layer 3 Etherchannel is basically like a point to point L3 link with the exception that it is a logical link composed of two or more redundant physical links.

A Layer 2 Etherchannel is also a logical link composed of two or more physical links in a redundant and load balancing configuration but you do not assign any ip addresses to this link. This link can be part of a single VLAN or it can be a trunk carrying multiple VLANs. If you need to trunk VLANs over the Etherchannel then i would say go with a Layer 2 etherchannel.