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This article is about how to use NIC Teaming in Windows Server 2012. The editor thinks it is very practical, so share it with you as a reference and follow the editor to have a look.

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

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 have the following disadvantages:

Vendors provide support, not Microsoft.

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

If you configure multiple bindings, each third-party network binding has a separate administrative UI.

Most third-party collaborative solutions do not have a remote configuration binding option.

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

Conditions for 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 be running at least Windows Server version 2012.

All available physical network adapters will join the NIC Teaming.

If the network card group needs to configure a VLAN number, determine the VLAN number.

NIC Teaming configuration principles and precautions

There are some principles to follow when configuring NIC Teaming. Keep in mind some considerations, including the following:

Microsoft uses the "Microsoft Network Adapter Multiplexor" protocol to help build NIC Teaming without using 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 that you 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 hardware (physical network card).

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

Only the bindings of two physical network adapters can be assigned to virtual machines. In other words, if more than two physical network adapters are bound, they cannot 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 bound network adapter appears on the external Network configuration page of the virtual machine settings.

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

How does NIC Teaming work?

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

The Microsoft Network Adapter Multiplexor protocol works for bound network adapters, but not for physical network adapters. For example, if there are two physical network adapters in a combination, the Microsoft Network Adapter Multiplexor protocol is invalid for both physical network adapters, but is shown in the bound adapter, as shown in the screenshot below:

NIC Teaming in Windows Server 2012

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

All network traffic generated by the bound adapter is received by one of the physical network cards participating in the Teaming. Communicate between the bound adapter and the Microsoft Network Adapter Multiplexor protocol that binds the physical network card.

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

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