About GigaStream

There are two types of GigaStream: regular GigaStream and controlled GigaStream. Both types of GigaStream bundle multiple ports to provide logical bandwidth. Packets arriving through network ports are processed with various map rules and then directed to ports. All traffic streams destined to a GigaStream are hashed among the bundled ports.

Regular GigaStream groups multiple ports running at the same speed into a single logical bundle called a GigaStream. Regular GigaStream can be used as either a packet egress destination (tool GigaStream) or as a stack-link between two GigaVUE‑OS nodes operating in a cluster (stack GigaStream).

Note:  The existing tool and stack GigaStream are now referred to as regular GigaStream. The term GigaStream is used when something applies to both types

For details on regular GigaStream, refer to Regular GigaStream.

Controlled GigaStream provides GigaStream controlled traffic distribution. Controlled GigaStream samples traffic based on hash settings and helps to ensure that traffic sent to each tool is within the capacity of the tool.

For details on controlled GigaStream, refer to Controlled GigaStream.

Controlled GigaStream provides greater flexibility in allocating the bandwidth assigned to tools within the GigaStream. Regular GigaStream assumes that each tool in the GigaStream is sent an equal fraction of the traffic. Controlled GigaStream allows different tools to be sent different fractions of the traffic.

Regular GigaStream and controlled GigaStream differ in the following ways:

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how traffic is distributed based on hashing

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how traffic fails over when a port goes down

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how the configuration can be edited, such as adding ports on the fly