required but is possible, and no configuration is performed on the switch. This is
the default option.
LACP (Dynamic Teaming) The Link Aggregation Control Protocol (LACP) is
used to dynamically identify links between the computer and specific switches.For load balancing, there were two modes in Windows Server 2012 and three in
Windows Server 2012 R2:
Hyper-V Port Each virtual machine NIC (vmNIC) has its own MAC address,
which is used as the basis to distribute traffic between the various NICs in the
team. If you have many virtual machines with similar loads, Hyper-V Port works
well; but it might not be optimal with a small number of virtual machines or
uneven loads. Because a specific vmNIC will always be serviced by the same NIC, it
is limited to the bandwidth of a single NIC.
Address Hash Creates a hash value based on information such as the source and
destination IP and port (although the exact mode can be changed to use only IP or
only MAC). The hash is then used to distribute traffic between the NICs, ensuring
that packets with the same hash are sent to the same NIC to protect against out-of-
sequence packet processing. This is not typically used with Hyper-V virtual
machines.
Dynamic New in Windows Server 2012 R2, and really the best parts of Hyper-V
Port and Address Hash combined. Outbound traffic is based on the address hash,
while inbound traffic uses the Hyper-V Port methods. Additionally, the Dynamic
mode uses something called flowlets as the unit of distribution between NICs for
outbound traffic. Without flowlets, the entire stream of communication would
always be sent via the same network adapter, which may lead to an unbalanced
utilization of network adapters. Consider a normal conversation: There are natural
breaks between words spoken, and this is exactly the same for IP communications.
When a break of sufficient length is detected, this is considered a flowlet, and a
new flowlet starts, which could be balanced to a different network adapter. You will
pretty much always use Dynamic mode in Windows Server 2012 R2.Although it is possible to use the NIC Teaming feature within a virtual machine, only
two vmNICs are supported (this is not a hard limit but a supportability limit), and a
configuration change is required on the virtual network adapter properties of the
virtual machine. This can be done in two ways:
Within the properties page of the virtual machine, select Advanced Features for the
network adapter and select the “Enable this network adapter to be part of a team in
the guest operating system” check box.
Use PowerShell and run the following command:
Set-VMNetworkAdapter -VMName <VM Name> ‐AllowTeaming OnTypically, you will not need to use teaming within the virtual machine. The high