MultiLink Trunking

MultiLink Trunking (MLT) is a point-to-point connection that aggregates multiple ports so that they logically act like a single port with the aggregated bandwidth. Grouping multiple ports into a logical link allows you to achieve higher aggregate throughput on a switch-to-switch or switch-to-server application. MultiLink Trunking provides media and module redundancy.

Note: MultiLink Trunking requires hardware with ARU2 or above ASICs.

A number of Nortel Networks products implement MultiLink Trunking and have different features and requirements based on the architecture of the device. For the Passport 1000 Series switch, MultiLink Trunking has the following general features and requirements:

• A switch can have up to eight MultiLink Trunks (MLTs).
• Up to four ports can belong to a MultiLink Trunk.
• The ports in a MultiLink Trunk can be on different modules in the switch.
• MultiLink Trunking is supported on 10BASE-T, 100BASE-TX, 100BASE-FX, and Gigabit Ethernet ports.
• All ports in a MultiLink Trunk must consist of the same media type (copper or fiber) and have the same settings (speed and duplex).
• All ports in a MultiLink Trunk must reside in the same spanning tree group.
• MultiLink Trunking is compatible with the Spanning Tree Protocol.
• IEEE 802.1Q tagging is supported on a MultiLink Trunk.
• For bridge traffic, the algorithm that distributes traffic across a MultiLink Trunk is based on the source and destination MAC addresses.
• For IP traffic, the algorithm that distributes traffic across a MultiLink Trunk is based on the source and destination IP addresses.
  
  

  Note: Setting up MultiLink Trunks reduces the number of VLANs available on the switch. A Passport switch starts with approximately 123 available VLANs. Every VLAN that includes one or more MultiLink Trunks reduces the total number of available VLANs by four.

  
  

To open the MultiLink Trunk (MLT) dialog box:

From the Device Manager menu bar, choose VLAN > MLT.

• MLT dialog box items