3COM Trunk & Cisco Fast EtherChannel

[Ebzed]

I have configured a port trunk in 3COM 3300 switch,
i connected a compaq 3131 nic (dual port), and team
both ports as Cisco Fast EtherChannel.
Everything seems to work (no way to really test the bandwidth).

Any one knows if such configuration work for real...?

 

[cdove]

I asked this to the 3COM support and they say that Cisco Fast Etherchannel shouldn't be setup on any thing other than a cisco!. I've set up the IEEE 802.3ad connection on our 3COM switches and that works fine!

 

[TimRegester]

Cisco FastEtherchannel will not aggregate two ports to a 3com 3300 switch. Your bound connection will likely be one connection working to the switch and the other lying idle.

3com are partly right, FastEtherchannel is an entirely proprietary technology and works on Cisco switches though some vendors have licensed the technology from Cisco to make it work.

FastEtherChannel was the basis of 802.1ad or Link Agrregation Control Protocol. There may be some compatibility but a 3300 does not support this protocol anyway.