Stacking Overview; Principle Of Stacking - Huawei Quidway S3700 Series Configuration Manual

Quidway S3700 Series Ethernet Switches
Configuration Guide - Device Management

3.1 Stacking Overview

This section describes the basic concepts of the stacking function.
The stacking function indicates that multiple devices that support the stacking function are
connected together to logically function as one device. Up to nine stack devices are connected
through stack cables in a ring or link topology. All stack devices logically function as one device
to forward packets. Roles of devices in a stack are as follows:
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The master switch, standby switch, and all the slave switches are all member switches.
Interfaces connecting member switches are stack interfaces, and other interfaces are common
user interfaces. Usually, the first two GE interfaces of a switch are stack interfaces. Conversion
between GE interfaces and stack interfaces are as follows:
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Member switches are connected through uplink GE interfaces and stack cables.

3.2 Principle of Stacking

This section describes how a stack system is set up.
Prerequisites for Setting Up a Stack System
To successfully create a stack system, complete the following tasks:
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Master switch
A stack has only one master switch. The master switch manages the entire stack system by
assigning stack IDs to member switches, collecting information about the stack topology,
and notifying all the member switches of the information.
Standby switch
A stack has only one standby switch. The standby switch backs up the master switch. When
the master switch is faulty, the standby switch functions as a master switch.
Slave switch
The slave switch sends packets to inform the master switch of the topology change after
detecting that a neighbor is lost. Apart from the master switch and standby switch, all the
other switches in a stack are slave switches.
If either of the two GE interfaces is connected to a stack cable, the GE interfaces work as
stack interfaces.
If one GE interface is connected to an optical module and the other is connected to nothing
or also connected to an optical module, the two interfaces work as common GE interfaces.
Configure the same software version for all the member switches. When the master switch
detects that a new member switch runs a different version, the master switch synchronizes
system version of the member switch.
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