Channel bonding is optional.
A bonded channel combines two Ethernet interfaces into a single logical link or link aggregation group (LAG). Network devices treat the aggregation as if it is a single link, which increases fault tolerance and provides load sharing.
The ReadyDATA supports a static LAG and a dynamic LAG with active or passive LACP for automatic configuration of a channel link with another device. Both the ReadyDATA and the device with which the channel link is established need to support the same mode (static LAG or dynamic LAG).
On the ReadyDATA, LAGs are implemented with three hash types:
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Layer 2. Based on the source and destination MAC addresses. All traffic between the ReadyDATA and a particular device is transmitted on the same physical link.
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Layer 3. Based on the source and destination IP addresses. Here too, all traffic between the ReadyDATA and a particular device is transmitted on the same physical link.
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Layer 4. Based on the source and destination port numbers. Traffic between the ReadyDATA and a particular device can be spread across multiple links.
You can select to use combinations of hash types, in which case the hash types are used simultaneously and the connection might be more secure but slightly slower.
After you create an aggregation link, you can expand the link with yet another interface (three Ethernet interfaces), or even another aggregation link (four Ethernet interfaces). Alternately, with four Ethernet interfaces, you can create two aggregation links and then aggregate these two links into one double aggregation link that consists of all four Ethernet interfaces.
For more information on configuring bonded channels, see the following support articles: