Recommendations For Configuring Stacks - Extreme Networks 7720 Installation Manual

Recommendations for Configuring Stacks

•
To provide management access to the stack in case of a failure in the primary
switch, connect all switches that will participate in redundancy to your management
network using the Ethernet management port on each switch.
•
Use stacking cables to interconnect the stack nodes into a ring topology (see
Topology: Recommended for Stacking
expect to be active in the stack.
Follow the recommendations in
to configure the software for your stack.
The recommended procedures for installing and interconnecting a stack are found in
Set up the Physical Stack
Recommendations for Configuring Stacks
When deploying a new stack, follow these recommendations for configuring the
software:
•
Plan to use the stack as if it were a single multi-slot switch. You need to decide the
number and type of stackable switches in the stack and how the stack ports will be
connected to the network.
•
You can physically connect the stack to your networks before the nodes are
configured. However, the default configuration on a switch in non-stacking mode
assumes a default untagged VLAN that contains all switch ports. When first
powered on, the switch acts as a Layer 2 switch, possibly resulting in network loops.
•
Make sure all nodes support the SummitStack feature and are running the same
Switch Engine software version. (See the
Requirements
node and run the command:
show version {detail | process name | images {partition partition}
{slot slot_number} } .
If any node does not have the right version, install the correct version on that node.
Use the same image partition on all nodes. After stacking is enabled, images can be
upgraded from the stack only if the same image is selected on all nodes.
•
If you intend to deploy new units that might be part of a stack in the future, turn on
stacking mode during initial deployment to avoid the need for a future restart. The
only disadvantages of stacking mode are the loss of QoS (quality of service) profile
QP7 and the reservation of some of the packet buffer space for stacking control
traffic.
•
You can configure the stack by logging into the primary node or any of the other
nodes.
•
If the primary-capable stackable switches have different purchased license levels,
you might need to configure license level restrictions on some nodes before
those nodes can join the stack. See the
information about managing licenses.
30 Extreme 7720 Hardware Installation Guide
Recommendations for Configuring Stacks
on page 33.
.) To view the Switch Engine software version on a node, restart the
on page 23). Include only the nodes that you
Switch Engine 32.4 Feature License
Switch Engine 32.4 User Guide
Build Stacks
Ring
on page 30
for more