16–Using Cavium Teaming Services
Executive Summary
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Repeater Hub
A repeater hub allows a network administrator to extend an Ethernet network
beyond the limits of an individual segment. The repeater regenerates the input
signal received on one port onto all other connected ports, forming a single
collision domain. This means that when a station attached to a repeater sends an
Ethernet frame to another station, every station within the same collision domain
will also receive that message. If two stations begin transmitting at the same time,
a collision occurs, and each transmitting station must retransmit its data after
waiting a random amount of time.
The use of a repeater requires that each station participating within the collision
domain operate in half-duplex mode. Although half-duplex mode is supported for
GbE adapters in the IEEE 802.3 specification, half-duplex mode is not supported
by the majority of GbE adapter manufacturers. Therefore, half-duplex mode is not
considered here.
Teaming across hubs is supported for troubleshooting purposes (such as
connecting a network analyzer) for SLB teams only.
Switching Hub
Unlike a repeater hub, a switching hub (or more simply a switch) allows an
Ethernet network to be broken into multiple collision domains. The switch is
responsible for forwarding Ethernet packets between hosts based solely on
Ethernet MAC addresses. A physical network adapter that is attached to a switch
may operate in half-duplex or full-duplex mode.
If the switch does not support Generic Trunking and 802.3ad Link Aggregation, it
may still be used for Smart Load Balancing.
Router
A router is designed to route network traffic based on Layer 3 or higher protocols,
although it often also works as a Layer 2 device with switching capabilities. The
teaming of ports connected directly to a router is not supported.
Teaming Support by Processor
All team types are supported by the IA-32 and EM64T processors.
NOTE
All modes of network teaming are supported across switches when
operating as a stackable switch.
