bonding with LACP and STP

[sgw]

I have HPE servers plugged into a HPE Aruba Switch (Aruba-2930M-24G-PoEP).

Each server uses 2 1xGbit/s NICs (eno5 and eno6) in a bond configured with LACP:

# cat /etc/network/interfaces

auto lo
iface lo inet loopback

auto eno6
iface eno6 inet manual

auto eno5
iface eno5 inet manual

auto eno7
iface eno7 inet static
    address 172.31.30.202/24

auto eno8
iface eno8 inet static
    address 172.31.31.202/24

auto bond0
iface bond0 inet manual
    bond-slaves eno5 eno6
    bond-miimon 100
    bond-mode 802.3ad
    bond-xmit-hash-policy layer3+4
#bonding

auto vmbr0
iface vmbr0 inet static
    address 192.168.1.202/24
    gateway 192.168.1.4
    bridge-ports bond0
    bridge-stp off
    bridge-fd 0

source /etc/network/interfaces.d/*

(eno7 and eno8 are used for cluster-services)

Do I have to enable STP on vmbr0? I assume, yes ... pls advise.

A second question for the future: we bought a 2nd switch (same model) and would like to set up something like MLAG: one cable per switch, the bonding should connect to both switches ... as far as I read these switches are stackable via a special cable (I haven't yet looked up the price). Is there another option to achieve this without that stacking? thanks in advance, Stefan

 

[Moayad]

Hi,

You don't need STP with LACP on a single switch, but if you plan to expand with more switches, enabling it might help avoid loops.

I don't know if your switch support MLAG without stacking.

 

[sgw]

@Moayad thanks for the feedback. As far as I read the Aruba-docs there is no MLAG without stacking. But I will browse these pdfs once more.
Enabling STP wouldn't hurt, right? Maybe as a preparation to not forget it on the way.

 

[Moayad]

Enabling STP wouldn't hurt, right?

Yes