Network Management - Nortel BayStack 5510-24T Specifications

Fail-safe stacking
A key differentiator for BayStack 5510
Switches is their resilient stacking feature.
BayStack 5510 Switches can stack up to eight
units with a cascade stacking design, assuring
continuous uptime even if a single switch in
the stack should fail. A loop-back or cascade
cable is used to seamlessly connect the entire
stack to provide no single point of failure.
In the unlikely event of a switch failure,
traffic performance is maintained at 40 Gbps
on the immediate units on either direction of
the failed unit via a 'wrapping' method; the
remaining units in the stack continue to send
traffic bi-directionally at full bandwidth
capability of 80 Gbps per switch (Figure 6).
MAC addresses
BayStack 5510 Switches support up to 16,000
MAC addresses per switch or stack. For
deployment of large-scale, enterprise networks
with many attached devices and workgroups,
this permits scalability to be achieved in a
cost-effective manner.
VLAN support
VLANs can be established for each switch to
extend the broadcast domain and segment
network traffic. These VLANs can be spread
among port-based or protocol-based VLANs.
The VLANs can be on a standalone switch or
across a stack. Protocol-based VLANs allow
switch ports to be assigned to a broadcast
domain based on the protocol information
within the packet. These VLANs localize
broadcast traffic and assure that the specified
protocol type packets are sent only to the
protocol-based VLAN ports. The BayStack
5510 Switches have been architected to
support up to 4,000 VLANs. BayStack 5510
Switches also support per VLAN Tagging
option on each port.
IGMP snooping
BayStack 5510 Switches feature IP Multicast
support by examining ('snooping') all
Internet Group Multicast Protocol (IGMP)
traffic in hardware at line rate, and pruning
unwanted data streams from affecting
network or end-station performance. Up to
256 IGMP groups are supported.
Multiple Spanning Tree
protocol groups
BayStack 5510 Switches support multiple
Spanning Tree Groups (STGs), either in a
single standalone switch or distributed across
a stack. STGs provide multiple data paths
which can be used for load-balancing and
6
redundancy. The BayStack 5510 Switches
have been architected to support up to 256
STGs. The switch architecture also supports
IEEE 802.1s and 802.1w † .
Nortel Networks Command Line
Interface (NNCLI)
The NNCLI is used to automate general
management and configuration of BayStack
5510 Switches. The NNCLI is used through
a Telnet session or through the serial port on
the console.
ASCII configuration file
BayStack 5510 Switches can download a
user-editable ASCII configuration file from a
TFTP (Trivial File Transfer Protocol) server.
The ASCII configuration file can be loaded
automatically at boot time or on-demand using
the management systems (console menus or
CLI). Once downloaded, the configuration
file automatically configures the switch or
stack according to the NNCLI commands in
the file. This feature provides administrators
with the flexibility of creating command
configuration files that can be used on several
switches or stacks with minor modifications.
Common look and feel
All BayStack switches, including the BayStack
5510, have a common "look and feel" which
reduces training costs. This allows the switches
to be managed in a similar fashion via a
broad set of management tools. These tools
include Web, Java -based Device Manager
™
(JDM), Command Line Interface (CLI),
menus, Optivity Network Management
System (ONMS), Optivity Switch Manager
(OSM), and Optivity Policy Services (OPS)
Auto MDI/MDIX
BayStack 5510 Switches can be connected to
a hub or another switch quickly and cost-
effectively with either a crossover or straight
through cable. When a cable is connected to
one of the 10/100/1000 ports on the switch,
the switch port automatically detects the
energy on the cable and configures itself. This
feature eliminates the need for an MDI/MDIX
port; any port may be used for connection to
a hub or switch.
Web-based management
Web-based network management makes
managing the BayStack 5510 Switch stack
easy with a Web browser. Summary, configu-
ration, fault, statistics, application, adminis-
tration, and support pages can be provided
for the entire stack. Traffic classification and
prioritization can be set via the Web-based
Figure 6. Fail-safe stacking
80 Gbps
80 Gbps
40 Gbps
40 Gbps
80 Gbps
80 Gbps
80 Gbps
In the unlikely event of a
switch failure, the stack integrity
is maintained: remaining switches
continue to work as a stack.
QoS Wizard and advanced configuration tool.
Real-time sampling provides up-to-date LED
statistical information for stacked units. The
Web interface also allows for static configura-
tion of numerous parameters of the device.

Network management

On-Box management
Network management begins with the
device. BayStack 5510 Switches support four
groups of Remote Monitoring (RMON) on
all ports and are SNMPv3 compliant.
RMON2 support is achievable via port
mirroring and the use of an external probe.
The SNMP agent software resides in the
switch and uses the information it collects to
provide management for all ports in the stack
providing comprehensive network monitor-
† .
ing capabilities.
Configuration management
The process of configuration begins with a
single device but finishes across multiple
devices. Java Device Manager is the device
configuration tool for those functions that
require communicating with a single device. It
uses a common user interface and workflow
that supports many Nortel Networks
Ethernet switches. This commonality allows
the network manager to become familiar
with one tool instead of multiple tools.
Optivity Switch Manager (OSM)
tool that performs the configuration function
such as VLAN assignments, MLT, and
Multicast across multiple Nortel Networks
Ethernet switches.
† is another