4. Windows NIC Teaming
Windows NIC Teaming is the name for the new network adapter teaming
functionality included in Windows Server 2012. Network adapter teaming
is also known as load balancing and failover (LBFO) and enables multiple network adapters on a server to be grouped together into a team. This has two purposes:
Previously, implementing network adapter teaming required using
third-party solutions from independent hardware vendors (IHVs).
Beginning with Windows Server 2012, however, network adapter teaming is
now an in-box solution that works across different NIC hardware types
and manufacturers.
Windows NIC Teaming supports up to 32 network adapters in a team in three modes:
-
Static Teaming
Also called Generic Teaming
and based on IEEE 802.3ad draft v1, this mode is typically supported by
server-class Ethernet switches and requires manual configuration of the
switch and the server to identify which links form the team.
-
Switch Independent
This mode doesn’t require that the team members connect to different switches; it merely make it possible.
-
LACP
Also called dynamic teaming
and based on IEEE 802.1ax, this mode is supported by most
enterprise-class switches and allows automatic creation of a team using
the Link
Aggregation Control Protocol (LACP), which dynamically identifies links
between the server and a specific switch. To use this mode, you
generally need to enable LACP manually on the port of the switch.
NIC teaming can be enabled from Server Manager or using PowerShell.
For example, to use Server Manager to enable NIC teaming, you can begin
by right-clicking the server you want to configure and selecting
Configure NIC Teaming:
In the NIC Teaming dialog box that opens, select the network
adapters you want to team. Then right-click and select Add To New Team:
In the New Team dialog box, configure the teaming mode and other settings as desired:
Clicking OK completes the process and, if successful, the new team will be displayed in the Teams tile of the NIC Teaming dialog box:
To configure and manage NIC teaming using PowerShell, use cmdlets such as New-NetLbfoTeam to add a new team or Get-NetLbfoTeam
to display the properties of a team. The cmdlets for managing NIC
teaming are defined in the PowerShell module named NetLbfo, and as Figure 7 shows, you can use the Get-Command cmdlet to display all the cmdlets defined in this module.
