There are a few key points to keep in mind when creating bonds/teams:

  • You can only bond interfaces higher than the parent. For example, if you start with port 10 you can only add ports 11 and greater.
  • When using a Virtual LoadMaster (VLM), all NICs must be added prior to configuring bonding or adding VLANs. If a new NIC is needed you must remove the bond and/or remove the VLANs.
  • If VLAN tagging is required, bond the links first and then add VLANs after the bond has been configured
  • Bonding interfaces 0 and 1 is not permitted
  • You should never bond all interfaces
  • In order to add a link to a bonded interface, any IP addressing must first be removed from the link to be added. The NIC to be added to the initial interface must not have an IP address.
  • Enabling the Active-Backup mode generally does not require switch intervention
  • The 802.3ad mode is an active-active setup
  • Ensure that all bonded interfaces are configured for the same link speed, both on the switch and the LoadMaster
  • If you want to bond port 0, you should strongly consider moving the web administrative interface and/or the remote SSH access to a different port temporarily until that bonding has been completely configured