You are a legend, Keith. You do this with enthusiasm, you use simple vocabs and daily words which make me understand the topic better. You are a lifesaver. Keep up the good work.
After watching half of this video, it really cleared my mind what the heck etherChannel is. I had read and watched other videos and still confuse with it's connection with the spanning tree. You really save my day and for the first time I did not feel sleepy watching a network video. You are the best!!!
So I was at work and tried this - was able to shut off the MDF ports to an IT person's switch. One of the of trunk port was his main connection to the MDF. PAgP the switch ports on his switch first, broke connection, and then no shut the ports of the MDF....all port were happy in less than a minute. Was glad to see that worked BEAUTIFULLY!!
LAG modes mode on(on both switches) LACP modes active,passive (active should be on either switch to send invitation and form lacp) (cisco proprietary)pAgp modes auto,desirable (desirable should be on either switch to send invitation and form pagp) Notes: Before using L2 etherchannel on either switch ports. To avoid mistakes reset the configs of interfaces. switch(config)# default interface fa0/1 Turn on trunking as required Good stuff kieth 😍
Hi Keith. Just wanted to say I love your humour! I will write you some day in more detail. 5 years ago I had postpartum depression stuck at home with a newborn. just thought I would take the CCNA while I was on maternity leave. I started studying-mainly because I had a free voucher that was going to expire. Back then your videos did not show much of your face and I would just listen to your voice and it was up uplifting. I passed easily. 🙂. I still watch your videos because they really help me understand the concepts and you are just entertaining and such a good person!
One more video from the master playlist watched and a little of Layer 2 EtherChannel learned. I like the way you explain. I will never forget the dancing party = PAgP or LACP analogy. Greetings from (currently) Germany!
I spent thousands for my local school for an instructor who copies and pastes cisco netacad and his lectures ar just reading the book at us. You spend time with personalized TEACHING and explanations that really makes me feel robbed. Thank you.!
I was really curious and excited to get to this video ( Ether channel ) on this playlist. I've been watching the playlist from the beginning. Now I understand ether channel thanks to you Keith. So thank u again. 😀 Please make more live streams about more Cisco or any certification if you have time.😃
I'm new to your channel and you are a life saver. Love your work. By watching your videos making me more exited about learning technology. I'm trying to get my ccna and ccnp this year. Thank you so much. Hopefully I can talk to you if I have any questions
Very good point in always doing a few sh commands verifying you’re in the right device. Anyone else working in this field ever paste an entire config in the wrong window/device? Talk about heart stopping when you realize what you did and then the work involved in fixing your goof... lol
I wish I had only watched your channel and this vid much much sooner, I had a 2960C I was trying to form ether channel for a wlc and had a terrible experience....ended up write erase, reload LoL then scratched it out finally. Although I had came to the conclusion had to be access interference but oh well....GREAT WORK KEITH!
It just occurred to me how to distinguish between PAgP and LACP, which uses the desirable/auto and which uses active/passive: LACP uses ACtive and Passive, (Link ACtive Passive - if you wanna think of it that way), and PAgP is 'the other one' lol. Thanks mass for all of this great stuff, Keith.
Hey Keith, Love your playlist(s) now and the very first one in your vids section. Are you still going to do sub-netting Saturdays? You are the last of the real American Cisco Engineers that I can fully understand and relate to. I grew in the same city SJ CA but 10 years younger, my first network was Novell CNE 4,5,6 BnC Ten base T and my first PC was a Apple II C E at media center of my primary school Anne Darling. I love your energy man!!
Thank you! Glad you are here. Yes, Subnet Saturday will begin on 1/11 at 11am Pacific Time. I will include them in a playlist as well, so they will be easy to find and review when needed. Thank you for your comments!
Thanks Keith it is really great effort form you. I am bit concern that I have two Layer-2 links form ISP and one point to point Fiber ( Dark Core) connection for two office located in different geo-location. Currently we configured Flex link (for redundancy on two links) and third on is administratively down once these two links go down at time, we shift the traffic on third one which is administratively down. Which is considered as a constraint for the management and also we are wasting the bandwidth of third link. EtherChannel will work in this case, weather ISP allows or not.
Thanks for doing the video, learnt the hard way.. should have shut the ports down before connecting the two switches. Lost the home network, it’s crazy to watch how the switch ports led all flashing in sync... interestingly the switches did not recover after I pulled the links... well under pressure from two teenagers with no internet... ended up restarting the switches.
Keith, You should make a video of behind the scenes, Like what software do you use to have virtual Switches/Routers/PCs using MTPUtty, but also what hardware do you use for your recording? Mic, Camera, What do you use to write on your drawings? What software do you use to record and show your graphics/music. I think it would be very interesting for everyone!
Hi Keith. I'm about to take my CCNA exam and thank God that I found your videos about the topics which covers CCNA. You're such a good instructor/teacher that makes all this so easy to understand. Big thanks :) Now, I have one thing which I'm stil not certain about. Is ether channel and port channel the same thing? If not, what's the difference between these two. Hope you can explain this. Thanks and keep it up with the good work :)
Hi Keith, good day. Thank you for the video, it was great. Just a question, since spanning tree will not bother blocking the ports, who would be the root switch? Does that remain the same as the initial process and EC is used just for BW utilization purpose? And what happens if one of the port under EC goes down? Will spanning tree identify it and block the port?
Hey Keith, I have a quick question for you...Would a person generally use a different model of switch for each layer (access. distro, core)? If so which model is best for each? Love the channel man! I watch and follow along with you regularly. Much Love!!
Usually most places use a 1U like 3750/9xxx series, then a 45xxx/65xx/93xx(?) larger switch at dist, and core can be either as that is usually just routing. Depends on your network and always, budget. A lot of places like health care use switch stacks in the access layer, and then to a dist or collapsed-core of either a switch-stack or vss layer of 1U or larger switches.
Im watching this as a supplement to the CBTNuggets CCNA 200-301 course and something didn’t compute for me on this same section as it relates to Trunking with STP and Ether-channels. I’m a little lost on something as it relates to STP when you set out to address it around 36:10 to around 37:45. I’m not understanding the Nuts and Bolts of how there was STP on one the links of the Trunk and then after configuring the Trunk as a Logical Ether-channel what exactly happened to STP which seemingly here is no longer being blocked? Everything else I think I get, but that part to me does not compute with STP. I didn’t understand it in the course and I’m still not getting it here. I think I need the play by play to understand what exactly is happening with the configuration change with STP. It was there and now it’s not there, yeah I’m confused! Also how many switch to switch channels assuming the switches are exactly the same can you bundle as a Ether-Channel?
** updated response ** Thanks for the question! In this topology there were only 2 switches, back to back, with 2 links between them. Before EtherChannel, STP would see a loop (parallel paths) between the two switches. By making the 2 links look like a single EtherChannel port, STP no longer sees a parallel path (it only sees 1). Now IF the other links between SW1 and SW3, and SW2 and SW3 were up and active, there once again would be a loop parallel paths) , and STP would place one of the ports in a blocking state, to prevent the loops. The block in that case would depend on which switch was the root bridge.
Keith Barker Thanks for the reply. The first part of the response is more clear in understanding. As it seems to say two or more normal parallel switch to switch connection will enact STP as would be normal on what is also a Trunk. If EtherChannel is enacted across this sane two port switch connection it combines them into one unique Virtual Port connection of sort there in nullifying STP as it’s only now just one Virtual port combined. And as long as that EtherChannel exist as one connection, STP stays nullified. If I’m correct there in understanding, then that I think I understand. Something about it still seems fuzzy to me, but I can get that.as explained. I’m very sure that I’m not the on,y one who got confused on that.
Hint: On Packet Tracer I had to do "switchport nonegotiate" on both side as I got an error that dtp was enabled on one side and off on the other. But after that command was entered etherchannel setup worked!
My head still hurts from beating it against the desk while trying to figure-out why I couldn't get the etherchannel to come up. I was so frustrated with seeing err-disabled. Then I found a Cisco config document that mentioned shutting down the interfaces and suddenly it all made sense.
@25:11 - LACP & PAgP is only for connecting multiple links to the same device, yes? Can you do etherchannel across two devices ?? sw1 sw2 sw3 sw4 - sw3 gig0/1 is connected to sw1 gig0/3 - sw3 gig0/2 is connected to sw2 gig0/3 - sw4 gig0/1 is connected to sw1 gig0/4 - sw4 gig0/2 is connected to sw2 gig0/4 can LACP or PAgP be enable to trick SPT into using all links ????
Sir can u tell me ..which Cisco layer 2 access switch model used this time ..and layer 3 Cisco switchs model in industry infrastructure now days....plz reply I have interview tomorrow😃😃😃
Hi Keith great videos!! Question: is it better to bundle 8 1G ports to uplink 4 switches with 2G each or have 4x2G separate Etherchannels? 2x2960-X 10G stacked to provide connection to 4 2960-X 1G
Hmm.. I thought we should configure the logical interface "port-channel X" first, before joining the trunk to the "channel-group X"? So the switch will automatically interpret the channel-group X command and join the trunks on the corresponding port-channel number? Btw, thanks for the great video and intuitive explanation. Browsing you playlist now :D
Thank you Fernan for the question, and yes. It will automatically create the port-channel when adding interfaces to it. Glad you are here. Enjoy the videos, and see you soon.
Interesting to note that enabling EtherChannel seems to reset the Vlans allowed over the interface/s; at least this is the case in Packet Tracer. Here's some "show interfaces trunk" command before and after output with trunking initially enabled for Vlans 10 and 20 *only* prior to enabling EtherChannel and after enabling EtherChannel, vlans 1-1005 are allowed and 1, 10 and 20 are active/forwarding with no additional configurations made to these settings... *BEFORE* EtherChannel: SW1#show interfaces trunk Port Mode Encapsulation Status Native vlan Gig0/1 on 802.1q trunking 1 Gig0/2 on 802.1q trunking 1 Port Vlans allowed on trunk Gig0/1 10,20 Gig0/2 10,20 Port Vlans allowed and active in management domain Gig0/1 10,20 Gig0/2 10,20 Port Vlans in spanning tree forwarding state and not pruned Gig0/1 10,20 Gig0/2 10,20 *AFTER* EtherChannel: SW1#show interfaces trunk Port Mode Encapsulation Status Native vlan Po1 on 802.1q trunking 1 Port Vlans allowed on trunk Po1 1-1005 Port Vlans allowed and active in management domain Po1 1,10,20 Port Vlans in spanning tree forwarding state and not pruned Po1 1,10,20
Thank you Steven Kelly! I wonder if that is the same behavior on physical gear. I am making a not to check, next time I lab this up on physical gear. Thank you for the observation, and letting us know! Happy studies.
Keith Barker. Thanks Keith. Due to network device limitations, I can’t represent the network exactly as when I did this in PT but I’ll try to lab it up as best I can on my physical network and I’ll let you know the result, if I can.
Keith, quick question... lets say that in your scenario you used gig 0/2, gig 1/2 on sw1 as your etherchanel and there was another redundant link from sw1 gig 0/0 to sw2 gig 0/0. Is there a scenario where STP would block the etherchanel? Hope I am asking this in a way that you can follow...
Thank you for the question Brian. Yes, there is a scenario where one end of the Etherchannel could be blocked, due that end not being a root port or a designated port.
Hi Keith, I think this may be beyond the scope of CCNA, but I have a question regarding voice traffic over Etherchannel. Is there a recommended way to setup Etherchannel for voice traffic? Should QOS be setup? I've heard there are issue with QOS on Port-Channel links. I'm confused to what the solution would be. Thanks!
Hello @Keith, Although video refreshed basics but I have a doubt when we have two 1 Gig interfaces and we have made ether channel then does the throughput doubles i.e. 2 Gig ( If we are using non-cisco switches at any end ) ? Because as per my understanding in cisco it creates one logical link with the bandwidth equals to single interface i.e. 1 Gig port-channel. I used the cisco switch with mikrotik routeros once and it used to double the throughput with bonding feature of mikrotik and LACP or ON at Cisco end. Thanks for answering this in advanced.
Thank you for the question Darshan. If both switches are compatible, and run LACP and/or both support Etherchannel, the two links would be seen as 1 logical 2Gig link (in the eyes of spanning tree.)
Hi Keith, I have learned before when you want to make Etherchannel you should use these commands ( sw(config)# interface port-channel 5 sw(config)# interface range gigabitethernet 0/1-2 sw(config)# channel-group 5 mode active) please tell me what`s difference between these two commands?
Thank you for the question Ehsan. Instead of having to go to each interface separately, (and issue same commands), you can go to interface range for 2 or more interfaces on the same switch, at the same time. Once in interface range configuration mode, any commands you implement are placed on all the interfaces in that range at the exact same time on that switch. Does that answer your question? Let me know and happy studies.
why both the switch ports should be shut before configuring etherchannel ? what happens in the interfaces technically if it's not shut. Please clarify!
Thank you for the question Moiz Ihsan. No. If only etherchannel is used, there in only 1 path, and there won't be a loop. However, STP would still be good to run, to identify any accidental, (through mis-configuration of the Etherchannel, or accidental connection of an additional cable), loops.
Hey Keith, thank you nice video, but i have setup a mini lab and I configured both switches as ethernchannel, after using show spanning-tree commands, 1 switch shows Po1 Desg FWD 12 128.56 P2p, but the other switch shows Po1 Altn BLK 12 128.56 P2p , I thought when you configure Etherchannels, they get rid of the STP blocking state..
Thank you for the question Israel. It is still possible for the entire Etherchannel logical interface to be in a blocking state, based on who and where the root switch is, and what other alternate paths exist.
Thank you for the question Cedric. PAgP was Cisco's original protocol, and proprietary, before LACP was an accepted standard. Most people will use LACP today, including on Cisco gear.
Hey Keith! If I shutdown the interfaces on switch 1, then do the configurations on both switches (without shutdown the interfaces on the switch 2) and finally no shut the interfaces on the switch 1, is it different compared to shutdown the interfaces on switch 1, do the configurations then shutdown the interfaces on the switch 2, do the configurations and then no shut the interfaces on both switches? Is it the same thing?
Thank you Stefanos Kattirtzis. Feel free to join my Discord sever. Lots of people there helping each other out. Each Saturday at 10am Pacific I hold my "Office Hour" where learners can ask questions about the topics they are studying. Mostly focusing on Cisco CCNA 200-301 topics. Feel free to join us there live if you are available. Here is the link ogit.online/Join_OGIT_on_Discord Thanks again Stefanos Kattirtzis!
Can you make an EtherChannel with any redundant segments? I see here it's switch to switch, but if I have an access switch's 2 tengigabit uplink ports going to a Core, with one BLKd from spanning tree, can I optimize the trunk from the switch to the core with an ether channel? And how will that impact the users attached to that access switch, would it be worth doing?
Thank you for the question HYDRA. If the access switch and the core both support etherchannel, then yes! You can have both links active for all VLANs as STP will see it as one logical segment/link, and then the Etherchannel will perform the load distribution across the available links.
Hi Keith, I have query about etherchannel, I have a 2 redundant link between two switches, one is blocking by spanning tree, how I can convert this links to etherchannel with out an outage? Is it possible?
Thank you Fajas np. Feel free to join my Discord sever. Lots of people there helping each other out. Each Saturday at 10am Pacific I hold my "Office Hour" where learners can ask questions about the topics they are studying. Mostly focusing on Cisco CCNA 200-301 topics. Feel free to join us there live if you are available. Here is the link ogit.online/Join_OGIT_on_Discord Thanks again Fajas np!
Hey Keith, How about configuring in a production environment. One link is already established but ethernchannel is not configured. I add another link configure both ends for etherchannel. Will this new link be blocked?
Thank you Hugh Lancaster. Feel free to join my Discord sever. Lots of people there helping each other out. Each Saturday at 10am Pacific I hold my "Office Hour" where learners can ask questions about the topics they are studying. Mostly focusing on Cisco CCNA 200-301 topics. Feel free to join us there live if you are available. Here is the link ogit.online/Join_OGIT_on_Discord Thanks again Hugh Lancaster!
Hi Keith. Share video of today's network engineer requirements. Like Python for network engineer. Yang data models, Netconf, restconf, rest API. This video of l2 etherchannel is very good but cores of content are available on UA-cam.
From AI: Using the Port Aggregation Protocol (PAgP) or Link Aggregation Control Protocol (LACP) instead of simply setting link aggregation to "on" (static configuration) on a Cisco switch offers several key benefits: 1. **Dynamic Configuration**: Both PAgP and LACP facilitate dynamic negotiation between switches for establishing link aggregation. This means that the protocols automatically manage the configuration and maintenance of aggregated links, reducing manual configuration errors and administrative overhead. 2. **Compatibility and Standardization**: LACP is part of the IEEE 802.3ad standard and ensures compatibility across different vendors’ devices. This is important in mixed-environment networks. PAgP is Cisco proprietary but still ensures consistent link aggregation behavior across Cisco devices. 3. **Link Monitoring and Control**: These protocols monitor the link status. If a link in an aggregation group fails, the protocols can dynamically adjust the configuration to account for the failed link, maintaining network resilience and continuity. 4. **Load Balancing**: They provide more sophisticated load balancing options. Traffic is distributed across aggregated links based on factors like source/destination MAC addresses, IP addresses, and port numbers, optimizing network performance. 5. **Failover and Redundancy**: They enhance network reliability through failover. If one link in an aggregation fails, traffic is automatically rerouted to the remaining links without any network interruption. 6. **Configuration Consistency**: These protocols ensure that the configurations at both ends of the aggregated links are consistent, preventing issues like loops or mismatched configurations that can lead to network instability. In contrast, setting link aggregation to "on" statically assumes that the configuration is correct and will not dynamically adjust to network changes or inconsistencies. This can lead to potential issues if there's a misconfiguration or a change in the network topology.
Hi Keith, I am new to Cisco but working in an environment with a lot of legacy gear and configs, is there any downside to using simply ON as opposed to PAgP or LACP? This is assuming that all configuration is correct both sides and the link will establish fine.
Hi Christopher! Thanks for the question. LACP can identify speed and duplex mismatches, which is great to know about when setting it up. The on setting won't do that (however CDP messages may provide a clue along the way). In short, if an etherchannel is already working, I wouldn't poke the bear. :) Hope that helps, and thanks for the question.
Hope you guys live long lives. But could you share the secret for it. For your age you look young and energetic. Which is great! hope the best for you man.
Thank you M Azi for the suggestion. Currently I am focusing most of my UA-cam content at the Cisco CCNA level, but will keep your suggestion in the queue as a possibility in the future. Thanks again for the idea.
Hi Keith! Thank you so much for these videos. I cant express to you how helpful they are in making subjects that start out as pretty intimidating become a lot easier to digest. I have a question regarding configuring port channels. If you have two links between two switches, and all of the interfaces have been configured to trunk and meet all of the proper parameters to be in a channel-group with one another, is it necessary to configure the port-channel interface for trunking? I came across this question/answer in a Cisco config lab and I am having trouble understanding why this is not a redundancy. Thank you again so much for sharing your knowledge. blog.certskills.com/cl555/ - question blog.certskills.com/cl555-answer/ - answer Thanks again, Alex
Hi Alex. Those are long reads! (I did take a peek at them though). In short, if the two links are configured for identical trunking, it is NOT required to also configure the logical port-channel. ua-cam.com/video/-7_PuMos2h8/v-deo.html At this time stamp I demo bringing it up, without any additional (or redundant) configs on the port-channel interface. Hope that helps.
Another crap tutorial. Why are you ether channeling only the switches? Don't you want performance with the PC1-4 clients? That is your bottleneck in the network. Each PC would have 2 NICs you can use for teaming. Why wouldn't you want each PC to have a 2gb connection?!
Thank you lextacy2008 for your insights. This video is targeted to helping people new to Cisco networking prepare for their CCNA. I appreciate you may have some knowledge above and beyond the CCNA level, and regarding that I say congrats, and best wishes.
@@KeithBarker Thank you for reply. If I sounded arrogant , my apologies. I do know that CCNA is weird and their curriculum is something I do not agree with. I mean my school wanted to teach using only virtual machines instead of real hardware LOL
You are a legend, Keith. You do this with enthusiasm, you use simple vocabs and daily words which make me understand the topic better. You are a lifesaver. Keep up the good work.
Wow, thank you!
You practically make confusing concept interesting to learn. Your smiles/enthusiasm takes the pressure off me.
Thank you Peace!
If i’m uncertain about any cisco topics, your channel is the go to place! Thanks for sharing your time.
Wow, thanks!
Your enthusiasm for Networking on a daily basis is extemporary - Legend Keith - Thanks flyingscotsman
Keith makes even makes a boring topic so interesting, specially with the examples he includes. Awesome video.
Thank you Nitika Thakur!
After watching half of this video, it really cleared my mind what the heck etherChannel is. I had read and watched other videos and still confuse with it's connection with the spanning tree. You really save my day and for the first time I did not feel sleepy watching a network video. You are the best!!!
Happy to do it, thanks for the feedback Miyazaki Zachary. Happy to do it, thanks for the feedback Miyazaki Zachary.
So I was at work and tried this - was able to shut off the MDF ports to an IT person's switch. One of the of trunk port was his main connection to the MDF. PAgP the switch ports on his switch first, broke connection, and then no shut the ports of the MDF....all port were happy in less than a minute. Was glad to see that worked BEAUTIFULLY!!
This guy is a hero. The way he explains things is amazing. Currently purchased my 350-601 from Cisco and reviewing all this saves time!
Thank you Jerry Sanchez!
LAG modes
mode on(on both switches)
LACP modes
active,passive
(active should be on either switch to send invitation and form lacp)
(cisco proprietary)pAgp modes
auto,desirable
(desirable should be on either switch to send invitation and form pagp)
Notes:
Before using L2 etherchannel on either switch ports.
To avoid mistakes reset the configs of interfaces.
switch(config)# default interface fa0/1
Turn on trunking as required
Good stuff kieth 😍
Thank you Waqar
Thank you for tips Keith... by the way happy birthday to your mom...❤
Hi Keith, Thank you for the free lessons! I’m looking forward to learn more about MPLS/MPLS-tp, OTN technology and BGP.
Thank you Gianne! Glad you are here.
Hi Keith. Just wanted to say I love your humour! I will write you some day in more detail. 5 years ago I had postpartum depression stuck at home with a newborn. just thought I would take the CCNA while I was on maternity leave. I started studying-mainly because I had a free voucher that was going to expire. Back then your videos did not show much of your face and I would just listen to your voice and it was up uplifting. I passed easily. 🙂. I still watch your videos because they really help me understand the concepts and you are just entertaining and such a good person!
Thank you Beebo! Really glad it was useful, and I appreciate you letting me know. Continued success to you!!!
One more video from the master playlist watched and a little of Layer 2 EtherChannel learned. I like the way you explain. I will never forget the dancing party = PAgP or LACP analogy.
Greetings from (currently) Germany!
Awesome, thank you!
Thank u so much Mr.Keith Barker for such a valuable content and positive attitude !
Happy to do it, thanks for the feedback Azer Shah.
I spent thousands for my local school for an instructor who copies and pastes cisco netacad and his lectures ar just reading the book at us. You spend time with personalized TEACHING and explanations that really makes me feel robbed. Thank you.!
Happy to do it, thanks for the feedback Pauly-Wauly Doodlealdaday.
Hello Keith, Thank you as always for another impact full session and belated birthday wishes for your Mother.🎂💐
Many thanks
I was really curious and excited to get to this video ( Ether channel ) on this playlist. I've been watching the playlist from the beginning.
Now I understand ether channel thanks to you Keith. So thank u again. 😀
Please make more live streams about more Cisco or any certification if you have time.😃
Thank you Ranjana Dissanayaka!
you make the boring topic interesting , thank you
Wow, thanks
Thanks, Keith! love the analogy about the barn dance haha i'll definitely remember that one.
Thanks for the tips, Keith! Lovely video.
Thank you Aaron Teh!
EtherChannel == stopping car; Mode == dancing ... Thank you :)
Happy to do it, thanks for the feedback Michael He.
Thanks you so much for all lessons Keith!
Happy to do it, thanks for the feedback.
Thank you so much Keith for doing this video, very informative and helped to refresh the concept. Stay blessed.
Thank you Wasif!
Thank you so much, all the Layer 2 Ether Channel doubts and issues got cleared.
Glad to hear that
Bob!!!! Happy new year Keith family and friends !!!!
Thank you Buenos Días gracias!
The worlds best instructor.
Thank you Mike Santos!
I'm new to your channel and you are a life saver. Love your work. By watching your videos making me more exited about learning technology. I'm trying to get my ccna and ccnp this year. Thank you so much. Hopefully I can talk to you if I have any questions
Thank you so much and happy birthday to your Mom. *Belated*
Thank you so much!
thank you so much you are one of the few youtubers that i subscribe, like and commented on videos
Thank you Pablo Alaniz!
Very good point in always doing a few sh commands verifying you’re in the right device. Anyone else working in this field ever paste an entire config in the wrong window/device? Talk about heart stopping when you realize what you did and then the work involved in fixing your goof... lol
Thank you Richard
I wish I had only watched your channel and this vid much much sooner, I had a 2960C I was trying to form ether channel for a wlc and had a terrible experience....ended up write erase, reload LoL then scratched it out finally. Although I had came to the conclusion had to be access interference but oh well....GREAT WORK KEITH!
Thank you XuniL ilaK!
Thanks Keith for the great work and your stuff on youtube.
Thank you M Azi!
I wish you taught the whole course on CBTnuggets!! Im seating the exam in 30 days and you had a big part in that. Thank you!
You can do it!
Excellent sir.. We loved u r teaching style...excellent content
Thank you Nikhila Gurram! Glad you are here.
Thank you, Keith!
Great job!
Thank you! I love your scenarios! So easy to understand . Also cool shirt. :)
Thank you Amanda G!
It just occurred to me how to distinguish between PAgP and LACP, which uses the desirable/auto and which uses active/passive: LACP uses ACtive and Passive, (Link ACtive Passive - if you wanna think of it that way), and PAgP is 'the other one' lol. Thanks mass for all of this great stuff, Keith.
your the best Keith! your awesome explanation on layman's term
Happy to help!
Thank you Keith, fantastic work as usual; its appreciated!
Very welcome
thank you!
your videos are helping me sooooo much!
your spirit is great too!!!that makes a difference!
You are so welcome
Very clear. Thank u Keith.
That is a very great content, it would be nice to have layer 3 as well. Thanks again for helping out.
Thank you Besisika Photography, great idea. I will add that to my list. Glad you are here.
Love your tutorials Keith.. :)
Thank you papsi remo!
Hey Keith, Love your playlist(s) now and the very first one in your vids section. Are you still going to do sub-netting Saturdays? You are the last of the real American Cisco Engineers that I can fully understand and relate to. I grew in the same city SJ CA but 10 years younger, my first network was Novell CNE 4,5,6 BnC Ten base T and my first PC was a Apple II C E at media center of my primary school Anne Darling. I love your energy man!!
Thank you! Glad you are here. Yes, Subnet Saturday will begin on 1/11 at 11am Pacific Time. I will include them in a playlist as well, so they will be easy to find and review when needed. Thank you for your comments!
I am loving this series..😍😍
Thank you Sai!
Thanks Keith,,
Appreciate your efforts 🙏😊
Thank you MOHMED ALI!
thanks Keith you are the best
Thank you abdo! Glad you are here.
i was trying to pay attention, but then saw the shirt!! LOL
Thanks Keith it is really great effort form you. I am bit concern that I have two Layer-2 links form ISP and one point to point Fiber ( Dark Core) connection for two office located in different geo-location.
Currently we configured Flex link (for redundancy on two links) and third on is administratively down once these two links go down at time, we shift the traffic on third one which is administratively down.
Which is considered as a constraint for the management and also we are wasting the bandwidth of third link.
EtherChannel will work in this case, weather ISP allows or not.
Thanks for doing the video, learnt the hard way.. should have shut the ports down before connecting the two switches. Lost the home network, it’s crazy to watch how the switch ports led all flashing in sync... interestingly the switches did not recover after I pulled the links... well under pressure from two teenagers with no internet... ended up restarting the switches.
Thank you Jason Knight for the hands on practice! Hands on is one of the best ways to build your skills, and get better. Thank you!
To rule out errors, its also helpful to just do a default port after the range command and just configure all the ports as you wish them.
Keith, You should make a video of behind the scenes, Like what software do you use to have virtual Switches/Routers/PCs using MTPUtty, but also what hardware do you use for your recording? Mic, Camera, What do you use to write on your drawings? What software do you use to record and show your graphics/music. I think it would be very interesting for everyone!
Thank you for the ideas Jason Banick!
Hi Keith. I'm about to take my CCNA exam and thank God that I found your videos about the topics which covers CCNA. You're such a good instructor/teacher that makes all this so easy to understand. Big thanks :)
Now, I have one thing which I'm stil not certain about. Is ether channel and port channel the same thing? If not, what's the difference between these two. Hope you can explain this. Thanks and keep it up with the good work :)
Thank you Bhanu Thapar!
Ether channel and Port channel in the Cisco world are one and the same.
Happy studies.
Career Changing Event - this is why you want to reach the one bad day away club as quickly as you possibly can.
Thank you Ron Pearson!
Hi Keith, good day. Thank you for the video, it was great. Just a question, since spanning tree will not bother blocking the ports, who would be the root switch? Does that remain the same as the initial process and EC is used just for BW utilization purpose?
And what happens if one of the port under EC goes down? Will spanning tree identify it and block the port?
Amazing
Sir i have a question. How i come to know if someone connect external router in the switch?
Hey Keith, I have a quick question for you...Would a person generally use a different model of switch for each layer (access. distro, core)? If so which model is best for each? Love the channel man! I watch and follow along with you regularly. Much Love!!
Usually most places use a 1U like 3750/9xxx series, then a 45xxx/65xx/93xx(?) larger switch at dist, and core can be either as that is usually just routing. Depends on your network and always, budget.
A lot of places like health care use switch stacks in the access layer, and then to a dist or collapsed-core of either a switch-stack or vss layer of 1U or larger switches.
Thanks Keith !!
My pleasure Christopher! Glad you are here.
Really help thanks :)
Im watching this as a supplement to the CBTNuggets CCNA 200-301 course and something didn’t compute for me on this same section as it relates to Trunking with STP and Ether-channels. I’m a little lost on something as it relates to STP when you set out to address it around 36:10 to around 37:45. I’m not understanding the Nuts and Bolts of how there was STP on one the links of the Trunk and then after configuring the Trunk as a Logical Ether-channel what exactly happened to STP which seemingly here is no longer being blocked? Everything else I think I get, but that part to me does not compute with STP. I didn’t understand it in the course and I’m still not getting it here. I think I need the play by play to understand what exactly is happening with the configuration change with STP. It was there and now it’s not there, yeah I’m confused!
Also how many switch to switch channels assuming the switches are exactly the same can you bundle as a Ether-Channel?
** updated response **
Thanks for the question! In this topology there were only 2 switches, back to back, with 2 links between them. Before EtherChannel, STP would see a loop (parallel paths) between the two switches. By making the 2 links look like a single EtherChannel port, STP no longer sees a parallel path (it only sees 1).
Now IF the other links between SW1 and SW3, and SW2 and SW3 were up and active, there once again would be a loop parallel paths) , and STP would place one of the ports in a blocking state, to prevent the loops. The block in that case would depend on which switch was the root bridge.
Keith Barker Thanks for the reply. The first part of the response is more clear in understanding. As it seems to say two or more normal parallel switch to switch connection will enact STP as would be normal on what is also a Trunk. If EtherChannel is enacted across this sane two port switch connection it combines them into one unique Virtual Port connection of sort there in nullifying STP as it’s only now just one Virtual port combined. And as long as that EtherChannel exist as one connection, STP stays nullified. If I’m correct there in understanding, then that I think I understand. Something about it still seems fuzzy to me, but I can get that.as explained. I’m very sure that I’m not the on,y one who got confused on that.
38:40 damn, how awkward it feels today when you are saying 'i'm glad i'm not coughing' :)
Thank you Bart. I hear you.
@37:30 - why did the cost for LACP port go down by 1 point while on the root switch ????
Hint: On Packet Tracer I had to do "switchport nonegotiate" on both side as I got an error that dtp was enabled on one side and off on the other. But after that command was entered etherchannel setup worked!
Thank you @JamesSadlowski!
My head still hurts from beating it against the desk while trying to figure-out why I couldn't get the etherchannel to come up. I was so frustrated with seeing err-disabled. Then I found a Cisco config document that mentioned shutting down the interfaces and suddenly it all made sense.
Thank you James Long! Some things like that, after sorting them out, will be part of your skillset forever. Happy labbing!
@25:11 - LACP & PAgP is only for connecting multiple links to the same device, yes?
Can you do etherchannel across two devices ??
sw1 sw2
sw3 sw4
- sw3 gig0/1 is connected to sw1 gig0/3
- sw3 gig0/2 is connected to sw2 gig0/3
- sw4 gig0/1 is connected to sw1 gig0/4
- sw4 gig0/2 is connected to sw2 gig0/4
can LACP or PAgP be enable to trick SPT into using all links ????
Sir can u tell me ..which Cisco layer 2 access switch model used this time ..and layer 3 Cisco switchs model in industry infrastructure now days....plz reply I have interview tomorrow😃😃😃
Hi Keith great videos!! Question: is it better to bundle 8 1G ports to uplink 4 switches with 2G each or have 4x2G separate Etherchannels? 2x2960-X 10G stacked to provide connection to 4 2960-X 1G
Thank you for the question Carlos Garcia. I am not sure which option would be the "best" in that scenario.
Thanks you so much for all these free lessons Keith! We would like to learn more on MPLS (Zero to Hero) - We need your help, please
Thank you Uditha Fernando!
@@KeithBarker Please make few MPLS lessons whenever you have time....
Hmm.. I thought we should configure the logical interface "port-channel X" first, before joining the trunk to the "channel-group X"?
So the switch will automatically interpret the channel-group X command and join the trunks on the corresponding port-channel number?
Btw, thanks for the great video and intuitive explanation. Browsing you playlist now :D
Thank you Fernan for the question, and yes. It will automatically create the port-channel when adding interfaces to it. Glad you are here. Enjoy the videos, and see you soon.
Thank u
Interesting to note that enabling EtherChannel seems to reset the Vlans allowed over the interface/s; at least this is the case in Packet Tracer.
Here's some "show interfaces trunk" command before and after output with trunking initially enabled for Vlans 10 and 20 *only* prior to enabling EtherChannel and after enabling EtherChannel, vlans 1-1005 are allowed and 1, 10 and 20 are active/forwarding with no additional configurations made to these settings...
*BEFORE* EtherChannel:
SW1#show interfaces trunk
Port Mode Encapsulation Status Native vlan
Gig0/1 on 802.1q trunking 1
Gig0/2 on 802.1q trunking 1
Port Vlans allowed on trunk
Gig0/1 10,20
Gig0/2 10,20
Port Vlans allowed and active in management domain
Gig0/1 10,20
Gig0/2 10,20
Port Vlans in spanning tree forwarding state and not pruned
Gig0/1 10,20
Gig0/2 10,20
*AFTER* EtherChannel:
SW1#show interfaces trunk
Port Mode Encapsulation Status Native vlan
Po1 on 802.1q trunking 1
Port Vlans allowed on trunk
Po1 1-1005
Port Vlans allowed and active in management domain
Po1 1,10,20
Port Vlans in spanning tree forwarding state and not pruned
Po1 1,10,20
Thank you Steven Kelly! I wonder if that is the same behavior on physical gear. I am making a not to check, next time I lab this up on physical gear. Thank you for the observation, and letting us know!
Happy studies.
Keith Barker. Thanks Keith. Due to network device limitations, I can’t represent the network exactly as when I did this in PT but I’ll try to lab it up as best I can on my physical network and I’ll let you know the result, if I can.
Keith, quick question... lets say that in your scenario you used gig 0/2, gig 1/2 on sw1 as your etherchanel and there was another redundant link from sw1 gig 0/0 to sw2 gig 0/0. Is there a scenario where STP would block the etherchanel? Hope I am asking this in a way that you can follow...
Thank you for the question Brian. Yes, there is a scenario where one end of the Etherchannel could be blocked, due that end not being a root port or a designated port.
Hi Keith, I think this may be beyond the scope of CCNA, but I have a question regarding voice traffic over Etherchannel. Is there a recommended way to setup Etherchannel for voice traffic? Should QOS be setup? I've heard there are issue with QOS on Port-Channel links. I'm confused to what the solution would be. Thanks!
community.cisco.com/t5/voice-over-ip/qos-for-port-channel-ports-on-3850-switch/td-p/3182910
Thanks for taking the time to look this out for me! This makes sense now. Also thanks for the great video series!
Hey Bob!
Hello @Keith, Although video refreshed basics but I have a doubt when we have two 1 Gig interfaces and we have made ether channel then does the throughput doubles i.e. 2 Gig ( If we are using non-cisco switches at any end ) ? Because as per my understanding in cisco it creates one logical link with the bandwidth equals to single interface i.e. 1 Gig port-channel. I used the cisco switch with mikrotik routeros once and it used to double the throughput with bonding feature of mikrotik and LACP or ON at Cisco end. Thanks for answering this in advanced.
Thank you for the question Darshan. If both switches are compatible, and run LACP and/or both support Etherchannel, the two links would be seen as 1 logical 2Gig link (in the eyes of spanning tree.)
Ok, so simply we can say ether channel link bandwidth = ( bandwidth of link) * ( number of links participating)
Hi Keith, I have learned before when you want to make Etherchannel you should use these commands ( sw(config)# interface port-channel 5
sw(config)# interface range gigabitethernet 0/1-2
sw(config)# channel-group 5 mode active)
please tell me what`s difference between these two commands?
Thank you for the question Ehsan.
Instead of having to go to each interface separately, (and issue same commands), you can go to interface range for 2 or more interfaces on the same switch, at the same time. Once in interface range configuration mode, any commands you implement are placed on all the interfaces in that range at the exact same time on that switch.
Does that answer your question?
Let me know and happy studies.
@@KeithBarker thank you for your response.
Yeah I got my answer. I try to implement both # l love Networking
Keith what are the difference between LagP protocol and LACP protocol ? Other than modes ??
Thank you for the question Rose Dhessi. PAgP is Cisco's proprietary protocol, and LACP is an industry standard protocol.
Thanks for reply Keith you are awesome
thank you
You're welcome
why both the switch ports should be shut before configuring etherchannel ? what happens in the interfaces technically if it's not shut. Please clarify!
Is STP even required between switches which use two parallel links behaving as a single(etherchannel)?
Thank you for the question Moiz Ihsan.
No. If only etherchannel is used, there in only 1 path, and there won't be a loop. However, STP would still be good to run, to identify any accidental, (through mis-configuration of the Etherchannel, or accidental connection of an additional cable), loops.
Sir I want to no the name of song u have played at the end. I love that.
Thank you Abhishek. I have a pool of music, and don't recall the name of that exact one. Sorry about that.
Thanks for watching, and happy studies.
Hi guys. The song is Even if the Sky Is Falling Down by The Waiting. Also thanks for the great lesson Keith.
Hey Keith, thank you nice video, but i have setup a mini lab and I configured both switches as ethernchannel, after using show spanning-tree commands, 1 switch shows Po1 Desg FWD 12 128.56 P2p, but the other switch shows Po1 Altn BLK 12 128.56 P2p , I thought when you configure Etherchannels, they get rid of the STP blocking state..
Thank you for the question Israel. It is still possible for the entire Etherchannel logical interface to be in a blocking state, based on who and where the root switch is, and what other alternate paths exist.
@@KeithBarker Thank you Keith..you are right..after i removed one of the cables..the etherchannel inmediately changed to DP...
Can we get a L3 EtherChannel video?
Thank you for the request Cedric Jones.
What is the benefit of using the PAgP or LACP vs just on?
Thank you for the question Cedric. PAgP was Cisco's original protocol, and proprietary, before LACP was an accepted standard. Most people will use LACP today, including on Cisco gear.
www.reddit.com/r/networking/comments/2xsggk/what_benefits_does_lacp_have_over_static/
Hey Keith! If I shutdown the interfaces on switch 1, then do the configurations on both switches (without shutdown the interfaces on the switch 2) and finally no shut the interfaces on the switch 1, is it different compared to shutdown the interfaces on switch 1, do the configurations then shutdown the interfaces on the switch 2, do the configurations and then no shut the interfaces on both switches? Is it the same thing?
Thank you Stefanos Kattirtzis. Feel free to join my Discord sever. Lots of people there helping each other out. Each Saturday at 10am Pacific I hold my "Office Hour" where learners can ask questions about the topics they are studying. Mostly focusing on Cisco CCNA 200-301 topics. Feel free to join us there live if you are available. Here is the link ogit.online/Join_OGIT_on_Discord
Thanks again Stefanos Kattirtzis!
Can you make an EtherChannel with any redundant segments? I see here it's switch to switch, but if I have an access switch's 2 tengigabit uplink ports going to a Core, with one BLKd from spanning tree, can I optimize the trunk from the switch to the core with an ether channel? And how will that impact the users attached to that access switch, would it be worth doing?
Thank you for the question HYDRA. If the access switch and the core both support etherchannel, then yes! You can have both links active for all VLANs as STP will see it as one logical segment/link, and then the Etherchannel will perform the load distribution across the available links.
Hi Keith, I have query about etherchannel, I have a 2 redundant link between two switches, one is blocking by spanning tree, how I can convert this links to etherchannel with out an outage? Is it possible?
Thank you Fajas np. Feel free to join my Discord sever. Lots of people there helping each other out. Each Saturday at 10am Pacific I hold my "Office Hour" where learners can ask questions about the topics they are studying. Mostly focusing on Cisco CCNA 200-301 topics. Feel free to join us there live if you are available. Here is the link ogit.online/Join_OGIT_on_Discord
Thanks again Fajas np!
Hey Keith,
How about configuring in a production environment. One link is already established but ethernchannel is not configured. I add another link configure both ends for etherchannel. Will this new link be blocked?
Thank you Hugh Lancaster. Feel free to join my Discord sever. Lots of people there helping each other out. Each Saturday at 10am Pacific I hold my "Office Hour" where learners can ask questions about the topics they are studying. Mostly focusing on Cisco CCNA 200-301 topics. Feel free to join us there live if you are available. Here is the link ogit.online/Join_OGIT_on_Discord
Thanks again Hugh Lancaster!
Hi Keith. Share video of today's network engineer requirements. Like Python for network engineer. Yang data models, Netconf, restconf, rest API. This video of l2 etherchannel is very good but cores of content are available on UA-cam.
Thank you Darshan Desai! Glad you are here.
Why would you use LACP or PAgP if you can just turn etherchannel ON?
From AI:
Using the Port Aggregation Protocol (PAgP) or Link Aggregation Control Protocol (LACP) instead of simply setting link aggregation to "on" (static configuration) on a Cisco switch offers several key benefits:
1. **Dynamic Configuration**: Both PAgP and LACP facilitate dynamic negotiation between switches for establishing link aggregation. This means that the protocols automatically manage the configuration and maintenance of aggregated links, reducing manual configuration errors and administrative overhead.
2. **Compatibility and Standardization**: LACP is part of the IEEE 802.3ad standard and ensures compatibility across different vendors’ devices. This is important in mixed-environment networks. PAgP is Cisco proprietary but still ensures consistent link aggregation behavior across Cisco devices.
3. **Link Monitoring and Control**: These protocols monitor the link status. If a link in an aggregation group fails, the protocols can dynamically adjust the configuration to account for the failed link, maintaining network resilience and continuity.
4. **Load Balancing**: They provide more sophisticated load balancing options. Traffic is distributed across aggregated links based on factors like source/destination MAC addresses, IP addresses, and port numbers, optimizing network performance.
5. **Failover and Redundancy**: They enhance network reliability through failover. If one link in an aggregation fails, traffic is automatically rerouted to the remaining links without any network interruption.
6. **Configuration Consistency**: These protocols ensure that the configurations at both ends of the aggregated links are consistent, preventing issues like loops or mismatched configurations that can lead to network instability.
In contrast, setting link aggregation to "on" statically assumes that the configuration is correct and will not dynamically adjust to network changes or inconsistencies. This can lead to potential issues if there's a misconfiguration or a change in the network topology.
Please make video on L3 etherchannel. L3 is in blueprint
Thank you Waqar Ahmed! I have added that to my list!
Hi Keith, I am new to Cisco but working in an environment with a lot of legacy gear and configs, is there any downside to using simply ON as opposed to PAgP or LACP?
This is assuming that all configuration is correct both sides and the link will establish fine.
Hi Christopher! Thanks for the question. LACP can identify speed and duplex mismatches, which is great to know about when setting it up. The on setting won't do that (however CDP messages may provide a clue along the way). In short, if an etherchannel is already working, I wouldn't poke the bear. :) Hope that helps, and thanks for the question.
Hi sir good morning form India looking forward for content on VRF
Thank you Anil Router, great idea. I will add that to my list. Glad you are here.
Hope you guys live long lives. But could you share the secret for it. For your age you look young and energetic. Which is great! hope the best for you man.
Thank you! Will do!
Notes:
L2 etherchannel protocols should be same on both switches.
for example 🤔
LACP switch1 forms with LACP switch2☑️
LACP switch1 and pAgp switch2 ❌
Apologies exemplary😊😊
Could you please invlude VPN/DMVPN in one of your sessions.
Thank you M Azi for the suggestion. Currently I am focusing most of my UA-cam content at the Cisco CCNA level, but will keep your suggestion in the queue as a possibility in the future. Thanks again for the idea.
Hi Keith! Thank you so much for these videos. I cant express to you how helpful they are in making subjects that start out as pretty intimidating become a lot easier to digest. I have a question regarding configuring port channels. If you have two links between two switches, and all of the interfaces have been configured to trunk and meet all of the proper parameters to be in a channel-group with one another, is it necessary to configure the port-channel interface for trunking? I came across this question/answer in a Cisco config lab and I am having trouble understanding why this is not a redundancy. Thank you again so much for sharing your knowledge.
blog.certskills.com/cl555/ - question
blog.certskills.com/cl555-answer/ - answer
Thanks again,
Alex
Hi Alex. Those are long reads! (I did take a peek at them though). In short, if the two links are configured for identical trunking, it is NOT required to also configure the logical port-channel. ua-cam.com/video/-7_PuMos2h8/v-deo.html At this time stamp I demo bringing it up, without any additional (or redundant) configs on the port-channel interface. Hope that helps.
Keith Barker thank you!!
Another crap tutorial. Why are you ether channeling only the switches? Don't you want performance with the PC1-4 clients? That is your bottleneck in the network. Each PC would have 2 NICs you can use for teaming. Why wouldn't you want each PC to have a 2gb connection?!
Thank you lextacy2008 for your insights. This video is targeted to helping people new to Cisco networking prepare for their CCNA.
I appreciate you may have some knowledge above and beyond the CCNA level, and regarding that I say congrats, and best wishes.
@@KeithBarker Thank you for reply. If I sounded arrogant , my apologies. I do know that CCNA is weird and their curriculum is something I do not agree with. I mean my school wanted to teach using only virtual machines instead of real hardware LOL
Power💞
Thank you Networks works!