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MC-LAG Overview
Edge Switches are any L2 standards-based switches providing network access to client PCs, servers,
printers, etc. These devices dual home (active/active) into MC-LAG groups aggregated across a pair of
OmniSwitch 10K multi-chassis peers.
Multi-Chassis Peer Switches are switches that terminate the aggregate links coming from multiple edge
switches; two switches are supported per MC-LAG domain. Each peer member can be a member of only
one domain and must be assigned with a unique chassis ID. MC-LAG functionality will remain operation-
ally down if duplicate chassis IDs are detected. The primary and secondary roles are only effective when
both chassis are up and MC-LAG is operational.
IPC VLAN is a special VLAN reserved for inter-chassis communication exchange between multi-chassis
peers. Ensure that IPC VLAN is the same on both peers. Only VFL ports can be assigned to this VLAN
and no other ports are allowed to join the IPC VLAN.
Virtual Fabric Link (VFL) is the aggregated group of 10G ports interconnecting the multi-chassis
peers.VFL is an automatic member of all VLANs created on the local chassis. The operational state of
VFL is tracked by implementing Link Aggregation Control Protocol. Group ID 128 is reserved for VFL
aggregate ports on single or multiple slots.
Virtual IP Interface (VIP) is the IP interface bound to the VFL for the respective subnet. It is the default
gateway for devices attached to the respective subnet. The VIP cannot be bound to any routing protocol or
establish any routing adjacencies. It routes only locally between MC-LAG subnets. By configuring the
routing maps, VIP subnets can converge with external routes.
Loop Detection is a utility provided to enable network loop detection. As a rule, you must take care not to
introduce back door loops through edge devices. The loop detection is enabled or disabled per system.
Loop detection mechanism generates multicast Loop Detect PDU at regular interval.
Benefits of MC-LAG
•
MC-LAG ensures high-availability in the network by providing node resiliency on the aggregation
layer.
•
MC-LAG provides dual-homed Layer 2 multi-path connections for edge nodes into the aggregation
without running the Spanning Tree protocol. The edge device can be any LACP capable-device.
•
MC-LAG delivers active/active forwarding mode whereby both sets of uplinks that are part of the dual
homed aggregates are processing traffic to maximize the value of the customer investment.
page 8-10
OmniSwitch AOS Release 7 Network Configuration Guide
Configuring Multi-chassis Link Aggregation
March 2011
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