Note: Many topics at this site are reduced versions of the text in "The Encyclopedia of Networking and Telecommunications." Search results will not be as extensive as a search of the book's CD-ROM.

Link aggregation is the bonding together of two or more data channels into a single channel that appears as a single, higher-bandwidth logical link. Aggregated links also provide redundancy and fault tolerance if each of the aggregated links follows a different physical path. Link aggregation may be used to improve access to public networks by aggregating modem links or digital lines. Link aggregation may also be used in the enterprise network to build multigigabit backbone links between Gigabit Ethernet switches.

Link aggregation is sometimes referred to as load balancing since traffic loads are distributed across multiple links. However, load balancing is also a data center technique in which incoming requests from clients are distributed to two or more servers. See "Load Balancing." This topic is about balancing network traffic loads across multiple communication links.

Aggregation is sometimes called inverse multiplexing or IMUX.