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Split Multi-Link Trunking (SMLT) allows multiple physical network links between two (2) network switches and another device (which could be another switch or a network device such as a server) to be treated as a single logical link and load balance the traffic across all available links. A general limitation of standard Link aggregation or Multi-Link Trunking (MLT) or EtherChannel is that all the physical ports in the link aggregation group must reside on the same switch. The SMLT, DSMLT and RSMLT protocols remove this limitation by allowing the physical ports to be split between two switches, allowing for the creation of Active load sharing High availability network designs that meet "Five Nines" availability requirements.