Which term describes grouping multiple physical Ethernet links into a single logical link for faster, fault-tolerant connections?

Which term describes grouping multiple physical Ethernet links into a single logical link for faster, fault-tolerant connections?

• A. EtherChannel
• B. VLAN
• C. Bridge
• D. Router Protocol

Answer: (A)

Grouping multiple physical Ethernet links into one logical link is EtherChannel, a form of link aggregation. By combining several cables, you get more overall bandwidth and built-in fault tolerance: traffic is distributed across the member links, so if one link fails, the others keep the connection active. In practice, devices negotiate and manage the group (often with LACP, per IEEE 802.1AX), and the hashing algorithm decides which link carries each packet. For reliability, all member links should share the same speed, duplex, and MTU, and both ends must be configured to participate. The total effective bandwidth equals the sum of the linked ports, while VLANs, bridges, and routing protocols describe other network functions and do not perform this kind of link consolidation.

Grouping multiple physical Ethernet links into one logical link is EtherChannel, a form of link aggregation. By combining several cables, you get more overall bandwidth and built-in fault tolerance: traffic is distributed across the member links, so if one link fails, the others keep the connection active. In practice, devices negotiate and manage the group (often with LACP, per IEEE 802.1AX), and the hashing algorithm decides which link carries each packet. For reliability, all member links should share the same speed, duplex, and MTU, and both ends must be configured to participate. The total effective bandwidth equals the sum of the linked ports, while VLANs, bridges, and routing protocols describe other network functions and do not perform this kind of link consolidation.