Configuring Irf; General Restrictions And Configuration Guidelines; Software Requirements; Irf Physical Port Restrictions And Binding Requirements - HP 5900 Series Configuration Manual

Configuring IRF

Read the configuration restrictions and guidelines carefully when you connect and set up an IRF fabric.

General restrictions and configuration guidelines

Software requirements

All IRF member switches must run the same software image version.

IRF physical port restrictions and binding requirements

All SFP+ and QSFP+ ports on the 5900 switch and all SFP+ ports on the 5920 switch can be used as IRF
physical ports.
When selecting transceiver modules and cables, follow these guidelines:
Use SFP+/QSFP+ transceiver modules and fibers for long-distance connection, or use
•
SFP+/QSFP+ cables to connect SFP+/QSFP+ ports for short-distance connection.
QSFP+ transceiver modules are available only for the 5900 switches. For more information about
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transceiver modules, see the switch installation guide.
• The transceiver modules at the two ends of an IRF link must be the same type.
SFP+ ports on the HP 5900AF-48XG-4QSFP+ Switch, HP 5900AF-48XG-4QSFP+ TAA Switch, HP
5920AF-24XG Switch, and HP 5920AF-24XG TAA Switch are grouped by port number in order, starting
from the one numbered 1. Each group contains four ports. Ports in the same group must be used for the
same purpose. If you use one port in a group as an IRF physical port, the other ports in the group cannot
be used for any other purposes.
When binding an SFP+ port in an SFP+ port group to an IRF port or removing it from the IRF port, shut
down all the other SFP+ ports in the same group.
When connecting two neighboring IRF members, connect IRF-port 1 on one member to IRF-port 2 on the
other.
On a physical port bound to an IRF port, you can execute only the shutdown, description,
priority-flow-control, and flow-interval commands. For more information about these commands, see
Layer 2—LAN Switching Command Reference.

IRF link redundancy

You can bind up to four physical ports to an IRF port for link redundancy.

MAD

LACP MAD handles collisions in a different way than BFD MAD, ARP MAD, and ND MAD. To
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avoid conflicts, do not enable LACP MAD together with any of those mechanisms in an IRF fabric.
However, you can configure BFD MAD, ARP MAD, and ND MAD together in an IRF fabric for
prompt IRF split detection.
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