Advanced Networking

We have already looked at some of the basic steps to configuring networking. As mentioned previously, you can edit the network interface config files by hand to fine-tune the network settings (such as adjusting speed, duplexing, and more). One advanced networking topic we look at here is Ethernet bonding.

Ethernet Bonding

Ethernet bonding is used to combine multiple interfaces into one, creating an increase in available bandwidth and redundancy. This is done by creating a special network interface file called a channel bonding interface. Because you are in a lab environment and using virtual network interfaces, there really isn’t any additional bandwidth benefit, but redundancy is always good. You need to create a third network interface on your RHEL01 virtual system before you can create your bonded interfaces.