Windows Server Note (vii): Windows Server R2 NIC Teaming (NIC Group)

What is Nic Teaming?
NIC Teaming is the combination of two or more network adapters to achieve fault tolerance and bandwidth aggregation. Each network adapter in NIC Teaming is physically present (the network adapter in the virtual machine is also physically present because the physical NIC needs to be bound.) ) and each connected to a separate network cable.
In earlier versions of Windows Server, NIC teaming could only be implemented through third-party software, such as Intel. However, in Windows Server R2, NIC Teaming can be implemented directly from the system without the need to install additional software and hardware.

Advantages of NIC Teaming
With the development of the network, we tolerate the server offline time is also getting shorter, even for 0. In Windows Server R2, by using NIC teaming technology, multiple network adapters are composed of one team (group) to work, even if one of the network adapters fails, the other can still work and maintain network connectivity.
You can also use this technique to combine multiple network adapters into a single logical (virtual) network adapter to achieve higher network throughput. For example, when a server has two 1Gbps network adapters that combine them into a single logical network adapter, the speed of the network adapter at this point is 2Gbps.

Configuring NIC Teaming
There are three "teaming modes" of deploying NIC teaming in Windows Server R2.
Static teaming is also called a switch dependency group, because this NIC combination requires the switch to participate in the combination, so all the adapters in the NIC group must be connected to the same switch, not scattered across multiple different switches. The switch is required to support the IEEE802.3AD standard.
Switch Independent The NIC teaming does not require a switch to participate in the mix, so each adapter can be connected to a different switch and also provides basic fault tolerance at the switch level.

LACP Link Aggregation Control Protocol (link Aggregation control PROTOCOL,LACP) that combines multiple NICs automatically into a single logical (virtual) network adapter. The switch is required to support LACP and is set to active.

When you choose a group mode, you also need to choose which load-balancing mode to use, and Windows Server 2012 has the following three load-balancing modes.
The address hash NIC group receives a packet, checks it first, and then passes the hash algorithm to the destination address information (such as IP address, port, etc.), based on the result that the NIC Group decides to send the packet through that NIC. Because of the hashing algorithm, the traffic direction cannot be controlled, and the large amount of data flows to the same network card.
Hyper-V Port this mode is recommended if your server is running multiple Hyper-V virtual hosts. When this pattern is used, the virtual opportunity sends data to a specific NIC via an external virtual switch, which makes the data more predictable.
Dynamic traffic can be implemented by a concept called flowlets, which is essentially a concept of splitting a large packet into smaller packets and sending it through different NICs.

Creating and managing NIC teaming in Windows Server R2 is a very simple thing that can be done through a graphical interface or PowerShell.

1. Open Server Manager, select "Local Server" on the left, and you can see the "NIC teaming" default option is "Disabled"; select "Disabled";


2. After opening the NIC combo window, select the server under the server option (when using Server Manager to manage multiple servers), you can select new group from the Task window of the Group option, or select the network card to add to the group by selecting the adapter and interface option, select "Add to New Group" If you want to add a network card to an existing group by selecting the left-hand group, right-click on the right side of the network card, right-click to select "Add to Selected Group" (Add the network card to the first group by right-clicking the current group and then selecting "Properties", by checking to select the network card to add to the group. ）；



3. Open the New Group window, enter the name of the group in the Group Name dialog box, select the network adapter you want to add to the group in the member Adapter dialog box, select the appropriate mode in the other properties, (Note: "Alternate adapter" is not available in other modes except "switch Independent" mode);


4. You can see the amount you just created in the Groups tab, and you may see a warning on the right side, and then you will notice that there is a network card "error, connection hangs" in the left, and it will return to normal after 10 seconds.


5. You will see a new network connection (the name of the NIC teaming group) in the Network Connection window, and when you right-click to view the details of the network adapter that has been added to the group, you can see that there is nothing in it, and when you right-click the new network connection, you will get the details of the network information.



Create a NIC with PowerShell Teaming

Use the "new-netlbfoteam" command to create
Parameter description:
-nameteam1 team1 is the name of the group that created the NIC teaming;
-teammembers Ethernet2,ethernet3 Ethernet2,ethernet3 is the name of the network connection (local connection);
-teamingmode static static is a group mode in groups "switchindependent (switch Independent), LACP. 】；
-loadbalancingalgorithm dynamic dynamically is the "hypervport (Hyper-V port) In Load Balancing mode, where the address hash is divided according to different hashes: Transportports (transport port) , ipaddresses (IP address), macaddresses (MAC address) ";
For more information on the "new-netlbfoteam" command, please see: https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/jj130847.aspx

After entering the command, enter, there will be a confirmation prompt, select "Y" or "A" can be.

Precautions:
1. On the physical server, Windows server R2 supports up to 32 NIC Teaming;
2, in the virtual machine (Hyper-V), the group mode only supports "switch independent", load Balancing mode only support "address hash";

3. These types of "network adapters" are not supported: WLAN, Bluetooth, WWAN, Infiniband
4, can only build the group on the NIC, cannot create the group on the basis of the group;
5, in the virtual machine, only support two network cards, but in the experimental test, can contain more network cards;

Windows Server Note (vii): Windows Server R2 NIC Teaming (NIC Group)