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38 5 Features
Link aggregation provides the following important benefits:
• Higher link availability
• Increased link capacity
• Improvements are obtained using existing hardware (no upgrading to higher-capacity link
technology is necessary)
Demanding applications running in high-performance environments like servers in enterpris-
es, web servers, and intranet servers gain particularly from the high-bandwidth and duplex
capabilities of link aggregation.
All SysKonnect Gigabit Ethernet adapters support link aggregation according to the IEEE
standard 802.3ad. At the moment, SysKonnect provides a link aggregation driver for
Windows 2000 and Windows XP. The drivers for Linux are able to support link aggregation
according to the IEEE standard 802.3ad by installing third party open source modules. For
details, refer to the corresponding readme file. In the future, link aggregation support accord-
ing to IEEE 802.3ad will be implemented in SysKonnect drivers for other operating systems
such as Linux, Sun Solaris, HP-UX, and IBM AIX. For driver updates, refer to our web site:
http://www.syskonnect.com
For more information on link aggregation, refer to the white paper “Link Aggregation accord-
ing to IEEE 802.3ad”, which can be found on the SysKonnect installation CD-ROM and on our
web site.
Redundant Switch Failover
Beyond the features required for link aggregation in the IEEE 802.3ad standard, SysKonnect
drivers support an additional failover feature, the so-called Redundant Switch Failover (RSF).
If a switch fails completely, RSF can move the link to a different switch which then takes over
the traffic.
At the moment, this feature is implemented in the driver package for Windows 2000 and
Windows XP but will be available for other operating systems in the future. The standard re-
quires that all links of a link aggregation group (team) are connected to the same partner
(usually a switch supporting 802.3ad). With SysKonnect’s link aggregation driver, one team
(group of logical links) can comprise several aggregators (sub-group beneath team level). If a
team has several aggregators, which are connected to separate switches, the failover feature
is utilized. Data is transferred via one aggregator, and is, if this aggregator fails, automatically
switched over to another aggregator in the same team.
For more information on RSF, refer to the white paper “Link Aggregation according to IEEE
802.3ad”, which can be found on the SysKonnect installation CD-ROM and on our web site.
PCI Hot Plug
As a member of the PCI Special Interest Group, SysKonnect participated in the standardiza-
tion of the insertion and removal of PCI computer cards during normal server operation. Like
all SysKonnect PCI cards, the Gigabit Ethernet adapters comply with the Hot Plug PCI stan-
dard. This technology increases the availability of the server(s) used.
Hot Plug enables the replacement of failed devices in a running system.