[K12OSN] Servers, K12LTSP, and workstation numbers, etc.

[Jim Kronebusch]

> 2. Switch independent method: use adaptive load balancing with the 
> bonding module. This requires that the kernel drivers for the NICs 
> support changing the MAC address on the fly for each NIC. (NOTE** 
> The cheap Hawking cards don't work with this as the r8169 driver 
> must be unloaded to change the MAC address).
> 
> What all of the bonding method does is allow multiple Gb NICs to appear
> as a single IP address so you have higher bandwidth for the clients.

Here is a howto for NIC bonding in Linux:

http://www.linux-corner.info/bonding.html

For load balancing instead of failover simply change the "options" line in
/etc/modprobe.conf to:

options bond0 mode=balance-alb

This only takes minutes to setup and as far as I know has virtually no limit
as to what and what type of NIC's you bond.  Of course, I am sure there is a
practical limit.

I don't have any specific data but I have been using teamed adaptors for 3
years now on dumb dell switches.

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