On Microsoft-based machines, the teaming methods are entirely
defined by the NIC vendor. This section describes the teaming modes
for Broadcom and Intel NICs.
The teaming modes described are only those used for load sharing.
Broadcom NICs
Broadcom supports the following
balancing modes:
- SLB – Smart Load Balancing
- In this method both transmit and receive load balancing are enabled,
based on source and destination L3/L4 IP addresses and TCP/UDP port
numbers.
- Generic Trunking
- In this switch-assisted teaming mode, the LAN switch that the
server is attached to, must be also configures for one of the aggregation
methods. As is the case for Smart Load Balancing, the IP/TCP/UDP source
and destination addresses to load balance the transmit traffic from
the server
- Link Aggregation (IEEE 802.3ad LACP)
- Link Aggregation is similar to Generic Trunking except that it
uses the Link Aggregation Control Protocol to negotiate the ports
that will make up the team.
Intel NICs
Intel supports the following balancing modes:
- Adaptive Load Balancing (ALB)
- This method allows transmission over 2-8 ports to multiple destination
addresses, along with Fault Tolerance. In this method, transmit is
done through 2-8 adapters in load balancing, while the team receives
packets only through the main adapter. This method works on L3/4 basis.
- Receive Load Balancing (RLB)
- This method, which can be configured only with ALB, adds the receive
load-balancing feature to it, and is also based on L3/4. This is a
switchless method.
- Virtual Machine Load Balancing (VMLB)
- Provides transmit and receive traffic load balancing across Virtual
Machines bound to the team interface, as well as fault tolerance in
the event of switch port, cable, or adapter failure. This teaming
type is a switchless method
- IEEE 802.3ad
- In this method, the standard supports static and dynamic modes. Intel supports both modes, and
must be configured with a LAN switch that supports the 802.3ad standard,
or Cisco Etherchannel technology.