Team multiple network interface into single interface /NIC Bonding

Team multiple network interface into single interface

Linux allows binding multiple network interfaces into a single channel/NIC using special kernel module called bonding.

Step #1: Create a bond0 configuration file

First, create bond0 config file in /etc/sysconfig/network-scripts/
# vi /etc/sysconfig/network-scripts/ifcfg-bond0Append following lines to it:DEVICE=bond0
IPADDR=192.168.1.20
NETWORK=192.168.1.0
NETMASK=255.255.255.0
USERCTL=no
BOOTPROTO=none
ONBOOT=yes

Step #2: Modify eth0 and eth1 config files:

Open both configuration using vi text editor and make sure file read as follows for eth0 interface# vi /etc/sysconfig/network-scripts/ifcfg-eth0 Modify/append directive as follows:DEVICE=eth0
USERCTL=no
ONBOOT=yes
MASTER=bond0
SLAVE=yes
BOOTPROTO=none
And do same for /etc/sysconfig/network-scripts/ifcfg-eth1



Step # 3: Load bond driver/module

Make sure bonding module is loaded when the channel-bonding interface (bond0) is brought up. One need to modify kernel modules configuration file:# vi /etc/modprobe.conf Append following two lines:alias bond0 bonding
options bond0 mode=balance-alb miimon=100
Save file and exit to shell prompt.

Step # 4: Test configuration

First, load the bonding module:

# modprobe bonding
Restart networking service in order to bring up bond0 interface
# service network restart
Verify everything is working:# less /proc/net/bonding/bond0Output:

Bonding Mode: load balancing (round-robin)
MII Status: up
MII Polling Interval (ms): 0
Up Delay (ms): 0
Down Delay (ms): 0

Slave Interface: eth0
MII Status: up
Link Failure Count: 0
Permanent HW addr: 00:0c:29:c6:be:59
 
Slave Interface: eth1
MII Status: up
Link Failure Count: 0
Permanent HW addr: 00:0c:29:c6:be:63

List all interfaces:# ifconfig