3.5. Bonds

A bond is an aggregation of multiple network interface cards into a single software-defined device. Because bonded network interfaces combine the transmission capability of the network interface cards included in the bond to act as a single network interface, they can provide greater transmission speed than that of a single network interface card. Also, because all network interface cards in the bond must fail for the bond itself to fail, bonding provides increased fault tolerance. However, one limitation is that the network interface cards that form a bonded network interface must be of the same make and model to ensure that all network interface cards in the bond support the same options and modes.

The packet dispersal algorithm for a bond is determined by the bonding mode used.