ReadyNAS network teaming provides a way to aggregate the two network interfaces into a single logical teamed, or bonded,

interface. The teamed interface allows for failover support and can provide for enhanced aggregate performance over a single virtual interface. The following teaming/bonding options are available. Note that the option you select may impact the ReadyNAS network performance. On systems supporting both 1GbE and 10GbE interfaces, avoid mixing different speeds within a team to prevent performance fluctuation.

Round-Robin:
This option requires the switch or router in front of the ReadyNAS to be configured for static link aggregation. Packets are transmitted in a sequential order between both interfaces. One packet would leave one interface, while the next one would leave through the second one. Pros: This mode provides increased throughput and offers redundancy, load balancing and fault tolerance. Cons: Traffic that is predominantly TCP may see an impact in performance due to packets arriving out of sequence and the receiving end requiring the NAS to retransmit. This would end up reporting large amounts of TCP retransmit errors on both sending and receiving side. Please see page 4 below for related information on static link aggregation when configuring Netgear switches.

Active Backup:
This option does not require any additional configuration on the switch side. In this mode only one interface is active. The secondary interface will only become active if the ReadyNAS detects a failure in the primary interface. The MAC address that the ReadyNAS will use will be the same on both ports, but it is externally visible on only one port at a time to avoid confusing the switch. The active interface can be set using the primary device drop-down menu. Pros: This mode provides redundancy and fault tolerance. Cons: It offers no throughput increase at all.

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XOR:
This option requires the switch or router in front of the ReadyNAS to be configured for static link aggregation. Transmit based on transmit hash policy. This mode provides load balancing and fault tolerance. You can also specify which transmit hash policy to use. This hash determines how links in the bond are selected when transmitting traffic. Options are: Layer2: Uses XOR function on source/destination MAC addresses to generate the hash. This method will place all traffic to a particular network peer on the same link. Layer2+3: Uses XOR of source/destination MAC addresses and source/destination IP addresses to generate the hash. This method will place all traffic to a particular network peer on the same link. Layer3+4: Uses XOR of source/destination IP addresses and source/destination port number to generate the hash. This method allows traffic to a particular network peer to be spread across multiple links (although a single connection will not span multiple links).

Pros: This mode provides increased throughput redundancy and fault tolerance. Cons: In certain situations, depending on the MAC addresses or IP addresses of the hosts, one interface may end up overloaded if through the hashing calculation the results point traffic to most destinations through the same interface. Please see page 4 below for related information on static link aggregation and hashing policy when configuring Netgear switches.

Broadcast:
This option does not require any additional switch-side configuration. This mode is really a special purpose mode, and is suitable only for very specific needs. For example, if the two switches are not connected (no ISL), and the networks beyond them are totally independent. In this case, if it is necessary for some specific one-way traffic to reach both independent networks, then the broadcast mode may be suitable.

IEEE 802.3ad:
This option requires the switch or router in front of the ReadyNAS to be configured for dynamic link aggregation it will not work if the router/switch is configured for static link aggregation. This mode uses the IEEE 802.3ad specification to allow the teaming to be negotiated through the use of the Link Aggregation Control Protocol (LACP). You can also specify which transmit hash policy to use. This has determines how links in the bond are selected when transmitting traffic. Options are:

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Layer2: Uses XOR function on source/destination MAC addresses to generate the hash. This method will place all traffic to a particular network peer on the same link. Layer2+3: Uses XOR of source/destination MAC addresses and source/destination IP addresses to generate the hash. This method will place all traffic to a particular network peer on the same link. Layer3+4: Uses XOR of source/destination IP addresses and source/destination port number to generate the hash. This method allows traffic to a particular network peer to be spread across multiple links (although a single connection will not span multiple links).

Pros: Uses an industry standard supported by most hardware, provides greater bandwidth, redundancy and fault tolerance. Cons: Requires the switch/router at the other side of the connection to support IEEE 802.3ad (LACP) link aggregation. Each interface must have the same negotiated speed. In certain situations, depending on the MAC addresses or IP addresses of the hosts, one interface may end up overloaded if through the hashing calculation the results point traffic to most destinations through the same interface. Please see page 4 below for related information on hashing policy when configuring IEEE802.2ad on Netgear switches.

Transmit Load-Balancing:
This option does not require any additional switch-side configuration. The outgoing traffic is distributed according to the current load (computed relative to the speed) on each interface. Incoming traffic is received by the current interface. If the receiving interface fails, another interface takes over the MAC address of the failed receiving interface. Pros: Similarly to XOR it uses a computational algorithm to split load between the ReadyNAS interfaces, offering increased throughput, redundancy and failover. Unlike XOR, the calculation TLB uses is smart enough to overcome unlucky MAC address calculations that would saturate a single particular interface. Cons: Takes more processing power than XOR or Round Robin.

Adaptive Load-Balancing:
This option does not require any additional switch-side configuration. This mode is everything that balance-tlb is, and more. It has all of the features (and restrictions) of transmit load-balancing, and will also add a layer of decision based on IPv4 addressing. Pros: All those listed in Transmit Load-Balancing, plus an additional layer based on ARP replies which also makes it so one particular interface is not particularly saturated due to inbound connections. Cons: Takes more processing power than XOR, Round Robin or Transmit Load-Balancing.

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Notes regarding configuring link aggregation on Netgear managed switches (models FSM726v3, GSM7228PS, GSM7252PS, GSM7328FS, GSM7328S, GSM7352S, XSM7224S)
Teaming/bonding is referred to as LAG on Netgear switches. This can be configured on the web interface of the switch under Switching -> LAG -> LAG Configuration. When you choose IEEE802.3ad, XOR or Round Robin on the ReadyNAS, then you need to configure LAG on the switch that the ReadyNAS connects to. For IEEE802.3ad, you would need to configure a dynamic LAG as follows:

The Hash Mode chosen should correspond to the xmit_hash_policy chosen on the ReadyNAS where: Sec/Dest MAC, VLAN, EType, incoming port this corresponds to Layer 2 xmit hash policy Src/Dest IP and TCP/UDP Port fields this corresponds to Layer 3+4 xmit hash policy At present there is no corresponding option for Layer2+3.

For XOR, you would need to configure a static LAG as follows:

Again, the Hash Mode chosen should correspond to the xmit_hash_policy chosen on the ReadyNAS as explained above. For Round Robin, you would need to configure a static LAG as follows:

Once the LAG is created, switch ports should then be added to it by going to Switching -> LAG -> LAG Membership.

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