- Combining ISLs into a single logical ISL
- Load sharing traffic across all ISLs in a trunk
- Maintaining in-order delivery of frames
- Avoiding rerouting if one of the server links between two switches fails
- Simplifying management by implementing fewer ISLs
Interswitch Link (ISL) Trunking is a licensed product, which is managed using telnet commands or the Web Tools interface. The ISL Trunking feature allows ISLs, connections between two switches through an Expansion Port (E Port), to merge logically into a single link. When using ISL Trunking to aggregate bandwidth of up to four ports, the throughput of the ISLs between switches in a fabric is quadrupled. ISL Trunking also supports high-bandwidth, large-scale Storage Area Networks (SANs) which include core switches. The primary task of ISL Trunking is to route data and edge switches that aggregate connections to servers and storage. ISL Trunking simplifies network design and reduces the cost of storage management by optimizing bandwidth utilization and enabling load sharing of traffic at the frame-level.