Cisco Certified Network Associate (CCNA) Practice Exam

When creating a Layer 3 EtherChannel with multiple interfaces, on which interface is the IP address configured?

1. Each physical interface

2. Port-channel interface

3. The first interface in the group

4. The EtherChannel group interface

The correct answer is: Port-channel interface

In a Layer 3 EtherChannel configuration, the IP address must be configured on the Port-channel interface. The Port-channel interface represents a virtual interface that aggregates multiple physical interfaces into a single logical link. When creating EtherChannel, the physical interfaces are bundled together, and the IP address is assigned to the Port-channel interface, which then handles all traffic passing through the aggregated links. Assigning the IP address to the Port-channel allows it to abstract the individual physical interfaces, making it easier to manage routing and layer 3 functionalities while ensuring that the traffic is efficiently distributed across all member interfaces. This setup enhances redundancy and load balancing, as the Port-channel interface manages the aggregated links as a single logical entity. By doing this, the configuration becomes cleaner and more straightforward, since you only need to deal with one interface for the IP address rather than configuring it on each individual physical interface.