Teamed NICs (also known as link aggregation) describes forming a network link on a
computer by using multiple network interface cards (NICs) together. This is useful
for increasing the total network bandwidth or providing link redundancy.
You can configure teamed NICs on Windows or Solaris so that they are compatible with
the agent.
Windows
On Windows, when you team NICs, it creates a new virtual interface. This virtual interface
adopts the MAC address of its first teamed physical interface.
By default, during installation or upgrade, the Windows Agent binds to all virtual
and physical interfaces. This includes the virtual interface created by NIC teaming.
However, the agent does not function properly if multiple interfaces have the same
MAC address, which happens with NIC teaming on Windows
To avoid that, bind the agent only to the teamed virtual interface, as opposed to
the physical interfaces.
Note that NIC teaming with the agent requires Windows 2003 requires SP 2 or later.
![]() |
WARNINGDo not add or remove network interfaces from a teamed NIC except immediately before
running the installer. Otherwise network connectivity may fail or the computer may
not be correctly detected by Workload Security. The agent's network driver is bound
to network interfaces when you install or upgrade; the agent does not continuously
monitor for changes after.
|
Solaris
IPMP failover (active-standby) mode in Solaris allows two NICs to have the same hardware
(MAC) address. Since the agent identifies network adapters by their MAC address, such
duplication prevents the agent from functioning properly.
To avoid that, manually assign a unique MAC address to each network adapter.
For example, you could use ifconfig to view the current MAC addresses:
# ifconfig -a hme0: flags=1000843<BROADCAST,RUNNING,MULTICAST,IPv4> mtu 1500 index 2 inet 10.20.30.40 netmask 0 ether 8:0:20:f7:c3:f hme1: flags=1000842<BROADCAST,RUNNING,MULTICAST,IPv4> mtu 1500 index 8 inet 0.0.0.0 netmask 0 ether 8:0:20:f7:c3:f
The
ether
line displays the adapter's MAC address. If any interfaces have the same MAC addresses,
and are connected to the same subnet, you must manually set new unique MAC addresses:# ifconfig <interface> ether <new MAC address>
Although the chance of a MAC address conflict is extremely small, you should verify
that there is not one by using the snoop command to search for the MAC address, then
use the ping command to test connectivity to the subnet's broadcast address.
On Solaris, if multiple interfaces are on the same subnet, the operating system may
route packets through any of the interfaces. Because of this, Workload Security firewall
stateful configuration options and IPS rules should be applied to all interfaces equally.