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How to use NIC Teaming in Windows Server 2012?

NIC Teaming is one of the many networking features introduced in Windows Server 2012 Hyper-V 3.0. Originally designed for Windows Server 2012, NIC Teaming can now also be used to configure bundled adapters for Hyper-V virtual machines.

This article focuses on how to configure NIC Teaming on Windows Server 2012 or later. Of course, Windows administrators can use third-party tools to configure NIC teaming on Windows, but with the following disadvantages:

Vendors provide support, not Microsoft.

You can only configure NIC Teaming between physical network adapters from the same manufacturer.

If you have multiple bindings configured, each third-party network binding has a separate management UI.

Most third-party collaboration solutions do not have remote configuration binding options.

Starting with Windows Server 2012 Hyper-V 3.0, you can easily configure NIC Teaming for your virtual machines.

Configuring NIC Teaming for Virtual Machines

Before configuring NIC Teaming for a virtual machine, ensure that the following conditions are met:

The guest operating system of the virtual machine must At least run the Windows Server 2012 version.

Available physical network adapters will join NIC Teaming.

If the NIC team needs to be configured with a VLAN number, determine the VLAN number.

NIC Teaming Configuration Principles and Precautions

There are some principles to follow when configuring NIC Teaming. Remember some notes, the main points are as follows:

Microsoft Use the "Microsoft Network Adapter Multiplexor" protocol to help NIC Teaming build without the need for third-party tools.

Microsoft's binding protocol can be used to bind network adapters from different vendors.

When configuring NIC Teaming for two physical network adapters, it is recommended to use the same configuration for the same network adapter, including configuration speed, drivers, and other network features.

NIC Teaming is a Windows server feature, so it can be used for any network traffic, including virtual machine network traffic.

NIC Teaming is built on top of hardware (physical NIC).

By default, a single Windows server can bind up to 32 physical network adapters.

Only two physical network adapters can be assigned to virtual machines. In other words, if there are more than two physical network adapters bound, they will not be attached to the virtual machine.

NIC Teaming can be configured as long as there are two or more 1GB or 10GB physical network adapters.

The bundled network adapter will appear in the "External Network" configuration page of the virtual machine settings.

NIC Teaming can also be called NIC bonding, load balancing and failover or LBFO.

How does NIC Teaming work?

Microsoft developers have designed a new protocol for NIC Teaming, the Microsoft Network Adapter Multiplexor, to help route packets from physical network adapters to bonded adapters, and vice versa. This protocol is responsible for transferring traffic between the bound adapter and the physical NIC. The protocol is initialized by default with the physical network adapter.

The Microsoft Network Adapter Multiplexor protocol is valid for bonded network adapters and not for physical network adapters. For example, if there are two physical network adapters in a combination, the Microsoft Network Adapter Multiplexor protocol is not valid for both physical network adapters, but will appear in the bundled adapters, as shown in the screenshot:

Windows Server 2012 NIC Teaming

As shown, the Microsoft Network Adapter Multiplexor protocol is not displayed in the properties of the physical network adapter <PNIC5”, but in the properties of the bound network adapter <;Hyper-VTeaming" display.

All network traffic generated by the bound adapter is received by one of the physical NICs participating in Teaming. The bound adapter communicates with the Microsoft Network Adapter Multiplexor protocol that binds the physical NIC.

If the protocol of any of the physical network adapters fails, the bound adapter will not be able to communicate with the physical network adapter in Teaming. The third-party binding tool has a protocol for this problem, but the Microsoft protocol can be used for any other vendor's network card, so the protocol and network card are not vendor-locked.