networker050184 wrote: » You can do etherchannel yes. Most access switches aren't going to be maxing out their bandwidth though. If they are then something is probably broken! When you design a network you have multiple options. The expensive option is to go full out and ensure that even if all devices send at max throughput at the same time the network can still handle it. This is an expensive option and not usually implemented. Especially when it comes to internet bandwidth at the edge. The more common option is the over subscribed model. In this model you realize that not every device (or access layer switch) is going to be using all of its bandwidth at all times. For example you have 46 gig ports on an access layer switch yet you only have a two gig etherchannel going up to the access. It's a pretty safe assumption that at any given time you will not have more than 2 gigs coming from this single access switch to the distribution layer. Same with distribution up. You may have 20 x 2 gig etherchannels from access switches and a single 10 gig up to the core.
