Roles Within The Stack; Primary And Secondary Management Modules - Alcatel-Lucent OmniSwitch 6450 User Manual

Roles Within the Stack

Roles Within the Stack
In order to operate as a virtual chassis, switches within an OmniSwitch 6450 stack are assigned specific
roles. These roles include primary and secondary management roles, idle status, and pass-through. For
detailed descriptions of each of these roles, including their practical functions within the virtual chassis,
refer to the sections below.

Primary and Secondary Management Modules

When OmniSwitch 6450 switches operate in a stack, one switch in the stack always assumes the primary
management role. This primary element is responsible for functions, such as software and configuration
management, web-based management (i.e., WebView), SNMP management, switch diagnostics, and soft-
ware rollback.
One additional switch in the stack operates in a secondary management role. This switch serves as a
backup, and is always ready to assume the primary management role in the stack if the switch with the
primary role fails or is taken offline for any reason.
Since the secondary module quickly and automatically assumes management responsibilities, switches
operating in idle mode elsewhere in the stack continue to pass traffic without disruption. This redundancy
provides effective safeguards for mission-critical network traffic and is one of the stack's most important
failover features. Diagrams showing the management module failover sequence for stacks of three or more
switches and stacks of two switches are provided on pages
page 6-4
Managing OmniSwitch 6450 Stacks
6-5 and 6-6, respectively.
OmniSwitch 6450 Hardware Users Guide July 2012