What are interface groups in Netapp

An interface group is a mechanism to group together multiple network interfaces (links) into one logical interface (aggregate). After an interface group is created, it is indistinguishable from a physical network interface.

The following figure shows four separate network interfaces, e3a, e3b, e3c, and e3d, before they are grouped into an interface group

                         

The diagram below shows four interfaces trunked together as Trunk1 

                             

Different vendors termed it with their own unique name virtual Aggregation or Link Aggregation or Trunks or Ether Channel


Interface groups provide several advantages over individual network interfaces:

• Higher throughput
  Multiple interfaces work as one interface.
• Fault tolerance
  If one interface in an interface group goes down, your storage system stays connected to the network by using the other interfaces.
• No single point of failure
  If the physical interfaces in an interface group are connected to multiple switches and a switch goes down, your storage system stays connected to the network through the other switches.