[treffer]

It just depends on what you use for management.

IIRC the /etc/network/interfaces does a reconfiguration that's pretty disruptive.

Things like brctl and ethtool worked on the fly without issues (note though that I mostly used Arista years ago).

It is usually non-disruptive if it gets applied as deltas. If your config tool does a teardown/recreate then that's disruptive. Within the bounds of ethernet and routing protocols (OSPF DR/DBR changes are disruptive, STP can be fun, ....).