Stacking Ports; Stacking Members And Unit Id; Removing And Replacing Stacking Members - NETGEAR FS728TS User Manual

Stacking Ports

The mode type determines the Gigabit Ethernet ports that are configurable by the user.
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In Stand-alone mode all Gigabit Ethernet ports are available.
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In Stack mode two dedicated Gigabit Ethernet ports are used for stack connection.
The factory default of the device is stacking mode. Use the Stack Management screen to configure a unit to operate in stand-alone mode.
The ports used for stacking can be either the combo ports or the copper ports. By default, the copper ports are reserved for stacking. The Stack
Management screen allows network managers to configure the combo ports as the stacking ports. The factory default of the device is stacking
mode.

Stacking Members and Unit ID

Stacking Unit IDs are essential to the stacking configuration. The stacking operation is determined during the boot process. The Unit ID selected
during the initialization process determines the Operation Mode. For example, if the user selected stand-alone mode, the device boots as a stand-
alone device.
Unit ID 1 and Unit ID 2 are reserved for Master enabled units. Unit IDs 3 to 6 can be defined for stack members. When the Master unit boots or
when inserting or removing a stack member, the Master unit initiates a stacking discovering process.
If two members are discovered with the same Unit ID the stack continues to function, however only the unit with the older join time joins the stack.
A message is sent to the user, notifying that a unit failed to join the stack.

Removing and Replacing Stacking Members

Stacking member 1 and stacking member 2 are Stacking Master enabled units. Unit IDs 1 and 2 are either designated as Master Unit or Secondary
Master Unit. The Stacking Master assignment is performed during the configuration process. One Master enabled stack member is elected Master,
and the other Master enabled stack member is elected Secondary Master, according to the following decision process:
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If only one Stacking Master enabled unit is present, this is the stacking Master.
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If two Stacking Master enabled stacking members are present, and one has been manually configured as the Stacking Master, this is the
Stacking Master.
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If two Master enabled units are present and neither has been manually configured as the Stacking Master, the one with the longer up
time is elected Stacking Master.
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If the two Master enabled stacking members are the same age, Unit 1 is elected Stacking Master.
Two stacking member are considered the same age if they joined the stack within the same ten minute interval. For example, Stack member 2 is
inserted in the first minute of a ten-minute cycle, and Stack member 1 is inserted in fifth minute of the same cycle, the units are considered the
same age. If there are two Master enabled units that are the same age, then Unit 1 is elected master.
The Stacking Master and the Secondary Master maintain a Warm Standby. The Warm Standby ensures that the Secondary Master takes over for
the Stacking Master if a failure occurs. This guarantees that the stack continues to operate normally.
During the Warm Standby, the Master and the Secondary Master are synchronized with the static configuration only. When the Stacking Master is
configured, the Stacking Master must synchronize the Stacking Secondary Master. The Dynamic configuration is not saved, for example,
dynamically learned MAC addresses are not saved.
Each port in the stack has a specific Unit ID, port type, and port number, which is part of both the configuration commands and the configuration
files. Configuration files are managed only from the device Stacking Master. This includes:
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Saving to the FLASH
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Uploading Configuration files to an external TFTP server
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Downloading Configuration files from an external TFTP server
Whenever a reboot occurs, topology discovery is performed, and the master learns all units in the stack. Unit IDs are saved in the unit and are
learned through topology discovery. If a unit attempts to boot without a selected Master, and the unit is not operating in stand-alone mode, the unit
does not boot. For example, if a stack member (unit IDs 3 - 6) is separated from the stack due to a topology failure, the stacking member is no
longer connected to the stack. The device can be booted, but it cannot be managed through the Stacking Master. The network manager can either
reset the device defaults, or correct the topology failure, and reconnect the unit to the stack.
Configuration files are changed only through explicit user configuration. Configuration files are not automatically modified when:
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Units are Added
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Units are Removed
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Units are reassigned Unit IDs
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