Redundancy

• Because a lag port uses multiple lines to deliver network packets, if there is an interruption in one or more of the lines, the network continues to operate. However, it will operate at reduced performance because each line lost reduces the overall bandwidth and network throughput.
  
  

Bandwidth

• Bandwidth is a measure of how much data can be transmitted per second. For example, a network interface that has a bandwidth of one gigabit can transmit at most one gigabits per second. The bandwidth of a lag port is higher than a simple point-to-point network. Each additional line added to the lag port increases the bandwidth of the connection. Each line can share the burden of network traffic, allowing for a higher bandwidth.
  
  

Large Hardware Budget

• Because a lag port uses multiple redundant connections and special hardware, it can drastically increase the cost of a network. For example, a lag port that uses eight lines requires eight times as much money to purchase when compared to a simple point-to-point network. In addition, special network interfaces must be purchased to properly converge the eight lines into one logical port.
  
  

Traffic Behavior

• The optimal network configuration for a lag port is one that has a large number of random Ethernet source and destination addresses. The underlying algorithm that shapes the traffic through the lag port is optimized for this type of traffic behavior. An example of this type of traffic behavior is a search engine, which receives random requests from various sources, where each request has a corresponding random destination.