EtherChannel - max-bundle

When creating an EtherChannel bundle using the LACP as the LAG protocol, it is possible to specify the maximum number of active links within that bundle.

For example, if a bundle is configured with ten physical links, you can configure the maximum number of active links to be six using the following commands:

Router(config)# interface port-channel 2
Router(config-if)# lacp max-bundle 6
Router(config-if)#

This results in six active links that are forwarding traffic. The remaining four links remain in hot-standby mode.

In the event that an active link fails, one of the hot-standby links comes up to take its place. Typically, the time taken to fail over is on the order of several seconds.

Fast switchover can be used to minimize this time, but it has certain configuration restrictions.