Load Balancing on Etherchannels for 65xx

[s-pirrello]

Hi,

I am deploying a new 6509-E as a core switch which will handle the distribution and aggregate layers. I was curious to know if I should enable Etherchannels Loadbalancing on it and the other 6509s/6513s that I will for the access layer or just the core 6509. So my question is, do I do this on both ends or just the core 6509? Any tips would be most helpful.

[Giuseppe Larosa · Accepted solution]

Hello Stefano,

by default traffic is load balanced based on :

an exor or MAC SA and MAC DA for non ipv4-traffic

an exor of IP SA and IP DA for ipv4 traffic.

this may be enough for your needs or not depending on traffic patterns.

the important note is that the two devices at the two ends of an etherchannel don't need to use the same load balancing algorithm.

so if necessary you can tune algorithm on a per device basis.

the choice is system wide not per bundle.

Hope to help

Giuseppe