NIC Bonding in SLA (Static Link Aggregation)

[pl82]

Hey there,

 

TLDR;  Is there any way to configure Unraid to use Static Link Aggregation instead of Dynamic 802.3ad ?

 

Been running unraid for over 2 years using balance-rr with a dual GBe NIC (Broadcom).

Recently got my hands on 2 intel PRO/1000 Quad Port NICs (One for the unraid box and one for my main system (Win10)).

My switch is an Adtran Netvanta 1524st. The switch supports 802.3ad but only in a static mode (ie. the switch does not do LACP in active nor passive mode. It only support Static Link Aggregation (SLA) -- see https://supportforums.adtran.com/docs/DOC-3485 )

My windows 10 machine works properly in SLA mode with all 5 (quad-port NIC + onboard) interfaces connected to a proper configured team on the switch.

Another team is assigned for the Unraid box, but enabling 802.3ad on the unraid box results in a loss of connectivity. Using the same Link-aggregated ports on the switch but in mode 0 (balance-rr) works as expected.

Now, I understand that the problem lies with my switch not supporting 802.3ad fully (ie. only in static mode).... My question is: Is there any way to configure Unraid to use a Static Link Aggregation instead of Dynamic 802.3ad ? (Through config files or w/e -- clearly no options for this in the GUI)

 

Running Unraid v6.6.7

 

Thanks,

 

 

 

[jsebright]

Also interested to know if Static LAG is possible.

Most discussions around this sort of thing seem to result in a recommendation to use 10GBe - I'm keen to avoid the cost of this (seems more expensive in the UK).

[bonienl]

49 minutes ago, jsebright said:

Also interested to know if Static LAG is possible.

See help text on network settings. Unraid supports 802.3ad aka dynamic link aggregation.

 

If you want higher than 1 Gbps throughput, you can try mode 5 or mode 6, these are adaptive load balancing modes

[jsebright]

23 hours ago, bonienl said:

Unraid supports 802.3ad aka dynamic link aggregation.

That's the issue, my switches only support Static Link aggregation. Thanks Netgear.

I'm connecting 2 ports from my Unraid box to a Netgear GS116Ev2  where the ports can be set for Static LAG. That connects via 2 ports to a Netgear GS908E with LAG set up at both ends. Then into my windows box which I can configure for static LAG.

I've been trying to improve the speed (just for the sake of it) without spending too much. Looks like the best way might be to put a card in each machine and use a direct cable run (avoiding the switches), but I've got to use the existing cables as putting in a run of fibre is not feasible. There are some 2.5G cards that have recently come on the market (Amazon didn't have any recently, but they now do) - I might get a pair of those to try.

 

Thanks for replying.