Managing Switch Stacks; Understanding Stacks - Cisco Catalyst 2975 Software Configuration Manual

Managing Switch Stacks

This chapter provides the concepts and procedures to manage Catalyst 2975 stacks. See the command
reference for command syntax and usage information.
The switch command reference has command syntax and usage information.
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A stack can have only Catalyst 2975 member switches.
Caution
For other switch stack-related information, such as cabling the switches through their stack ports and
using the LEDs for switch stack status, see the hardware installation guide.

Understanding Stacks

A switch stack is a set of up to nine Catalyst 2975 switches connected through their stack ports. One of
the switches controls the operation of the stack and is called the stack master. The stack master and the
other switches in the stack are stack members. Layer 2 and Layer 3 protocols present the entire switch
stack as a single entity to the network.
A switch stack is different from a switch cluster. A switch cluster is a set of switches connected through
Note
their LAN ports, such as the 10/100/1000 ports. For more information about how switch stacks differ
from switch clusters, see the "Planning and Creating Clusters" chapter in the Getting Started with Cisco
Network Assistant on Cisco.com.
The master is the single point of stack-wide management. From the master, you configure:
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If the stack master is running the cryptographic version (that is, supports encryption) of the software, the
encryption features are available.
OL-19720-02
Understanding Stacks, page 6-1
Configuring the Switch Stack, page 6-17
Accessing the CLI of a Specific Member, page 6-22
Displaying Stack Information, page 6-22
Troubleshooting Stacks, page 6-23
System-level (global) features that apply to all members
Interface-level features for each member
C H A P T E R
Catalyst 2975 Switch Software Configuration Guide
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