Planning Irf Fabric Setup; Planning Irf Fabric Size And The Installation Site; Identifying The Master Switch And Planning Irf Member Ids; Planning Irf Topology And Connections - H3C S6820 Series Installation Manual

Step
Install IRF member switches.
2.
Connect ground wires and power
3.
cords.
Power on the switches.
4.
Configure basic IRF settings.
5.
Connect the physical IRF ports.
6.

Planning IRF fabric setup

This section describes issues that an IRF fabric setup plan must cover.

Planning IRF fabric size and the installation site

Determine the number of required IRF member switches, depending on the user density and
upstream bandwidth requirements. The switching capacity of an IRF fabric equals the total switching
capacities of all member switches.
Plan the installation site depending on your network solution as follows:
•
Place all IRF member switches in one rack for centralized high-density access.
•
Distribute the IRF member switches in different racks to implement the top-of-rack (ToR) access
solution for a data center.
As your business grows, you can add member switches into the IRF fabric to increase the switching
capacity without any topology change or replacement.

Identifying the master switch and planning IRF member IDs

Determine which switch you want to use as the master for managing all member switches in the IRF
fabric. An IRF fabric has only one master switch. You configure and manage all member switches in
the IRF fabric at the command line interface of the master switch.
NOTE:
IRF member switches will automatically elect a master. You can affect the election result by
assigning a high member priority to the intended master switch. For more information about master
election, see H3C S6820 Switch Series IRF Configuration Guide.
Prepare an IRF member ID assignment scheme. An IRF fabric uses member IDs to uniquely identify
and manage its members, and you must assign each IRF member switch a unique member ID.

Planning IRF topology and connections

You can create an IRF fabric in daisy chain topology, or more reliably, ring topology. In ring topology,
the failure of one IRF link does not cause the IRF fabric to split as in daisy chain topology. Rather, the
IRF fabric changes to a daisy chain topology without interrupting network services.
Description
See "Installing the switch in a 19-inch
See "Grounding the switch" and
N/A
See H3C S6820 Switch Series IRF Configuration Guide.
Connect the physical IRF ports on switches. Use
QSFP28/QSFP+/SFP28 transceiver modules and fibers for
connections over long distances. Use QSFP28/QSFP28 to
SFP28/QSFP+/SFP28 cables for connections over short distances.
All switches except the master switch automatically reboot, and the
IRF fabric is established.
34
rack".
"Connecting the power cord."