EtherChannel

EtherChannel is a port link aggregation technology or port-channel architecture used primarily on Cisco switches.

EtherChannel is primarily used in the backbone network, but can also be used to connect end user machines.

When an EtherChannel is configured all adapters that are part of the channel share the same Layer 2 (MAC) address.

This makes the EtherChannel transparent to network applications and users because they only see the one logical connection; they have no knowledge of the individual links.

Without the use of an EtherChannel, STP would effectively shutdown any redundant links between switches until one connection goes down.

Cisco's Virtual Switching System (VSS) allows the creation of a Multichassis Etherchannel (MEC) similar to the DMLT protocol allowing ports to be aggregated towards different physical chassis that form a single virtual switch entity.

The two Cisco Nexus switches involved in a vPC differ from stacking or VSS technology in that stacking and VSS create a single data and control plane across the multiple switches, whereas vPC creates a single data plane across the two Nexus switches while keeping the two control planes separate.

There are a few differences between the two, other than the fact that EtherChannel is Cisco proprietary and 802.3ad is an open standard, listed below: Both technologies are capable of automatically configuring this logical link.