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So... We have a few servers that we would like load balanced link aggregation between multiple network interfaces. In the past we have used broadcom basp teaming using LACP.

Today we encountered THIS problem. An 'A' record for one of our DCs disappeared and would not recreate. It co-incided with configuring a different DC with a LACP nic team.

We have broken the team now and things seem normal again, but wtf is happening here? Is LACP a bad idea for windows servers 'full stop'? Is it just DCs?

Edit: It looks like 2012 implements LACP, I should make it clear that I am using 2008 r2.

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  • Is that DC a DNS server?
    – Shane Madden
    Commented Nov 28, 2013 at 1:42
  • It shouldn't break the A record. I wonder if it's related to which mac address gets used and silly arp cache issue on the DC.
    – hookenz
    Commented Nov 28, 2013 at 1:43
  • @ShaneMadden: The DC that LACP was configured on was not a dns server. The host for the A record that was lost is a DC with dns.
    – Matt
    Commented Nov 28, 2013 at 2:03
  • @Matt: An interesting thought but in an LACP group isn't a single MAC used?
    – Matt
    Commented Nov 28, 2013 at 2:04
  • @Ablue A DC that runs DNS has a bit of a novel method of putting its A records in DNS - the DNS server process adds an A record directly for each listening interface configured for the DNS service. Would any changes you were making at the time have affected the DNS service on that system?
    – Shane Madden
    Commented Nov 28, 2013 at 2:09

2 Answers 2

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Teaming with Broadcom or Intel is very widely used and in my experience has caused no problems. I am not saying that a particular driver could not be buggy but it seems that jumping to conclusion that LACP is flaky in general is a bit of a red herring. I would suspect a misconfiguration in the process of setting it up is far more likely.

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  • Same here, I've been using Broadcom and Intel teaming for many years on physical domain controllers (2003 R2 and 2008 R2) without problems.
    – pauska
    Commented Nov 28, 2013 at 10:51
  • So as far as you are concerned the causes for the described issue are limited to a bad driver or mis-configuration?
    – Matt
    Commented Nov 28, 2013 at 22:39
  • Seen this one? Might be to do with service start order serverfault.com/questions/120052/…
    – JamesRyan
    Commented Nov 29, 2013 at 11:05
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Looks like it is probably not a good idea to use third party link aggregation software on windows server.

Possible solutions include:

  • Upgrade to 2012
  • P2V servers
  • Cluster instead
  • Commit seppuku
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