21.3.3 Mixed speed mode

(1) Example of application with standby link function

You can use a slower standby port for a faster port. For example, if you use a 10 Gbit/s port for communication, you can enable the standby link functionality by setting the maximum number of active ports to 1, and setting a 1 Gbit/s port as a standby port. In this case, if a fault occurs on the 10 Gbit/s port, you can continue communication by using the standby 1 Gbit/s port.

If you use the standby link functionality in mixed-speed mode, we recommend that you set the maximum number of active ports to 1. If the maximum number of active ports is 2 or more, ports with different transmission speeds might be used for normal operation. Also, if you set the maximum number of active ports to 1, we recommend that you use link-not-down mode. If you use link-down mode when the maximum number of active ports is 1, the channel group is temporarily shut down when the channel group is switched.

(2) Example of using the channel group configuration change procedure

You can change the transmission speeds of ports in a channel group (network reconfiguration) without shutting down the channel group.

To do so, use the procedure below to change the transmission speeds of ports in a channel group by using mixed-speed mode.

1. Operate link aggregation with a channel group that consists of ports whose transmission speed is the same (two 1-Gbit/s ports).

2. Set mixed-speed mode.

3. Add two 10 Gbit/s ports to the channel group.

   If mixed-speed mode is not set, link aggregation temporarily stops with this step.

4. Place the two 10 Gbit/s ports you added in step 3 in the link-up status.

5. Place the two 1 Gbit/s ports in the link-down status.

6. Remove the two 1 Gbit/s ports from the channel group.

7. The channel group now consists of two 10 Gbit/s ports.