v3.1: bond0 (bond_mode 802.3ad) with DLink DGS-1244t??

[whiterabbit]

Hi.
We use a Proxmox server (v3.1). I would like to install a bond0 with mode 4 (802.3ad) as it seems to be the "best way" for dynamic balancing two NICs?!
As we have DLink DGS-1244t Switches I wonder if it's possible to realise it at all?
I found this page (Krautlanguage!) --> http://superwallah.twoday.net/stories/64026632/
So, what to do if our switch just supports "static link aggregation" (SLA)? How to configure Proxmox in this case?
Any ideas? Thank you.

 

[mir]

Choose any other mode than 4;-) -> https://www.kernel.org/doc/Documentation/networking/bonding.txt

balance-xor or mode 2 should be the best.

 

[wahmed]

Choose any other mode than 4;-) -> https://www.kernel.org/doc/Documentation/networking/bonding.txt

balance-xor or mode 2 should be the best.

You are suggesting mode 2 because the question was for the "best way" for balancing?

If combining 3 one gigabit connections into a single 3 gigabit was the goal, then mode 4 would be the way to go ?

 

[mir]

You are suggesting mode 2 because the question was for the "best way" for balancing?

Yes, and fault tolerance.

If combining 3 one gigabit connections into a single 3 gigabit was the goal, then mode 4 would be the way to go ?

I have no experience with that.

 

[whiterabbit]

Choose any other mode than 4;-) -> https://www.kernel.org/doc/Documenta...ng/bonding.txt
balance-xor or mode 2 should be the best.

Of course: I just wonder if <mode 2> "is the best"? It sounds as if <mode 6> was the best choice because no modifications on the switch are necessary?

But the bigger problem is: How to configure our switch? Which mode is supported and how to setup?
This is no proxmox-problem but maybe anyone knows the answer... i.e. do I need a VLAN-configuration?

 

[mir]

You claimed that your switch has support for static link aggregation which is sufficient to be able to use mode 2.

 

[whiterabbit]

You claimed that your switch has support for static link aggregation which is sufficient to be able to use mode 2.

Ok! Good to know! I cannot find any information about that in the DLink-Manual.
But still: VLAN is required for that or not? It's possible to set "Trunking" (page 31)
--> http://www.dlink.com/-/media/Business_Products/DGS/DGS 1224T/manual/DGS-1200series_Manual_US.pdf
The manual is very short concerning "Trunking"...

 

[mir]

vlans is not a requirement for bonding. Trunking is merely a way of connecting switches in a way which ensures vlan tags are not dropped so that vlans are able to span over several switches which is used in enterprise solutions.

 

[whiterabbit]

vlans is not a requirement for bonding. [...]

Ok, thank you. I will try to use bond0 with mode 2 and two NICs. And I turn on "Trunking" with these two ports then ... hope it works! And if it works I can bundle up to 6 NICs ... let's see...

 

[wahmed]

Ok, thank you. I will try to use bond0 with mode 2 and two NICs. And I turn on "Trunking" with these two ports then ... hope it works! And if it works I can bundle up to 6 NICs ... let's see...

Unless you are trying to increase total bandwidth, using 6 bonded NICs for load balancing and redundancy is just a waste in my opinion. In most cases 3 NICs bonding to provide fault tolerance is sufficient. 6 NICs bonding will really come in handy if you were trying to create a single 6 gbps network connectivity. That also means you will have to upgrade rest of the machines in clusters specially the ones with storage with 6gbps bonding so they can talk to each other at that same bandwidth.

 

[whiterabbit]

Unless you are trying to increase total bandwidth, using 6 bonded NICs for load balancing and redundancy is just a waste in my opinion. In most cases 3 NICs bonding to provide fault tolerance is sufficient.

Ok, but mainly I want to increase total bandwith. Redudancy is nice but in my case secondary. For the beginning I will test it with 2 NICs (here: Intel t350). Good to know (finally) how to configure both sides. Thanks!

Nevertheless: The next question is if it's possible to combine two switches with trunking as well. Of course I could use the
MiniGBIC ports in the front but it seems cheaper to bundle some free ports via trunking as well??

 

[wahmed]

The only switches can do switch to switch trunking are stackable ones. Multiple stackable switches can be trunked together to act as one giant switch.

Sent from my SGH-T989D using Tapatalk now Free

 

[whiterabbit]

The only switches can do switch to switch trunking are stackable ones. Multiple stackable switches can be trunked together to act as one giant switch.

Ok. So I have to use MiniGBIC instead to make the backbone faster?
So far we don't use it....

 

[wahmed]

Ok. So I have to use MiniGBIC instead to make the backbone faster?
So far we don't use it....

#1 usage of MiniGBIC is when connecting multiple switches where they are far away from each other. MiniGBIC allows carrying data over long distance without any degradation. Yo ucan also connect a server to MiniGBIC which allows dedicated connection from server as upload freeing main LAN traffic. But it does not give so called bigger bandwidth.

Here is an example of stackable switch:
http://www.netgear.com/business/products/switches/stackable-smart-switches/GS724TS.aspx

To stack switches MiniGBIC is good way to go. But when trying to increase overall cluster bandwidth without using 10gbE hardware, then using a standard switch with LACP/Link Aggregation is the way to go. One of my cluster has 3 storage nodes with 3 NICs each, 3 Proxmox nodes with 4 NICs in each and a 24 port Netgear Smart Switch. I have bonded links using Mode 4 to create 3gbps connectivity between storage and Proxmox cluster. In my situation i have the following setup:

 

[whiterabbit]

Again: Thanks for information. Now I know which way to go.