+ In a topology such as the example above, the active-backup and
+broadcast modes are the only useful bonding modes when optimizing for
+availability; the other modes require all links to terminate on the
+same peer for them to behave rationally.
+
+active-backup: This is generally the preferred mode, particularly if
+ the switches have an ISL and play together well. If the
+ network configuration is such that one switch is specifically
+ a backup switch (e.g., has lower capacity, higher cost, etc),
+ then the primary option can be used to insure that the
+ preferred link is always used when it is available.
+
+broadcast: This mode is really a special purpose mode, and is suitable
+ only for very specific needs. For example, if the two
+ switches are not connected (no ISL), and the networks beyond
+ them are totally independent. In this case, if it is
+ necessary for some specific one-way traffic to reach both
+ independent networks, then the broadcast mode may be suitable.
+
+12.2.2 HA Link Monitoring Selection for Multiple Switch Topology
+----------------------------------------------------------------
+
+ The choice of link monitoring ultimately depends upon your
+switch. If the switch can reliably fail ports in response to other
+failures, then either the MII or ARP monitors should work. For
+example, in the above example, if the "port3" link fails at the remote
+end, the MII monitor has no direct means to detect this. The ARP
+monitor could be configured with a target at the remote end of port3,
+thus detecting that failure without switch support.
+
+ In general, however, in a multiple switch topology, the ARP
+monitor can provide a higher level of reliability in detecting end to
+end connectivity failures (which may be caused by the failure of any
+individual component to pass traffic for any reason). Additionally,
+the ARP monitor should be configured with multiple targets (at least
+one for each switch in the network). This will insure that,
+regardless of which switch is active, the ARP monitor has a suitable
+target to query.
+
+
+13. Configuring Bonding for Maximum Throughput
+==============================================
+
+13.1 Maximizing Throughput in a Single Switch Topology
+------------------------------------------------------
+
+ In a single switch configuration, the best method to maximize
+throughput depends upon the application and network environment. The
+various load balancing modes each have strengths and weaknesses in
+different environments, as detailed below.
+
+ For this discussion, we will break down the topologies into
+two categories. Depending upon the destination of most traffic, we
+categorize them into either "gatewayed" or "local" configurations.
+
+ In a gatewayed configuration, the "switch" is acting primarily
+as a router, and the majority of traffic passes through this router to
+other networks. An example would be the following:
+
+
+ +----------+ +----------+
+ | |eth0 port1| | to other networks
+ | Host A +---------------------+ router +------------------->
+ | +---------------------+ | Hosts B and C are out
+ | |eth1 port2| | here somewhere
+ +----------+ +----------+
+
+ The router may be a dedicated router device, or another host
+acting as a gateway. For our discussion, the important point is that
+the majority of traffic from Host A will pass through the router to
+some other network before reaching its final destination.
+
+ In a gatewayed network configuration, although Host A may
+communicate with many other systems, all of its traffic will be sent
+and received via one other peer on the local network, the router.
+
+ Note that the case of two systems connected directly via
+multiple physical links is, for purposes of configuring bonding, the
+same as a gatewayed configuration. In that case, it happens that all
+traffic is destined for the "gateway" itself, not some other network
+beyond the gateway.
+
+ In a local configuration, the "switch" is acting primarily as
+a switch, and the majority of traffic passes through this switch to
+reach other stations on the same network. An example would be the
+following:
+
+ +----------+ +----------+ +--------+
+ | |eth0 port1| +-------+ Host B |
+ | Host A +------------+ switch |port3 +--------+
+ | +------------+ | +--------+
+ | |eth1 port2| +------------------+ Host C |
+ +----------+ +----------+port4 +--------+
+
+
+ Again, the switch may be a dedicated switch device, or another
+host acting as a gateway. For our discussion, the important point is
+that the majority of traffic from Host A is destined for other hosts
+on the same local network (Hosts B and C in the above example).
+
+ In summary, in a gatewayed configuration, traffic to and from
+the bonded device will be to the same MAC level peer on the network
+(the gateway itself, i.e., the router), regardless of its final
+destination. In a local configuration, traffic flows directly to and
+from the final destinations, thus, each destination (Host B, Host C)
+will be addressed directly by their individual MAC addresses.
+
+ This distinction between a gatewayed and a local network
+configuration is important because many of the load balancing modes
+available use the MAC addresses of the local network source and
+destination to make load balancing decisions. The behavior of each
+mode is described below.
+
+
+13.1.1 MT Bonding Mode Selection for Single Switch Topology
+-----------------------------------------------------------