Link aggregations enable you to pool multiple datalink resources that you administer as a single unit. You can improve the bandwidth and provide high availability for applications by combining multiple physical NICs together. Link aggregation of network datalinks ensures that a system has continuous access to the network. Trunk aggregation and DLMP aggregation are the two types of link aggregation.
Trunk aggregation provides consolidated bandwidth of the underlying datalinks for the clients configured over the aggregation. DLMP aggregation provides high availability across multiple switches for the clients configured over the aggregation. DLMP aggregation also supports link-based failure detection and probe-based failure detection to ensure continuous availability of the network to send and receive traffic. For more information about different types of link aggregation and procedures for configuring and administering link aggregations, see Chapter 2, Configuring High Availability by Using Link Aggregations.