Managing Stacking; Managing Stacking Modes; Advanced Stacking - D-Link 3100 24P - DGS Switch - Stackable User Manual

DGS-3100 Series Gigabit Stackable Managed Switch User Manual

Managing Stacking

Stacking enhances network flexibility by building virtual switches with more ports then are available in a single device.
Stacks are managed by stacking member which called Stack Master., All other stacking members serve as ports only.
The following paragraphs provide a stacking explanation for DGS-3100 series and include the following topics:


Managing Stacking Modes



Advanced Stacking


Building Stacks – Quick Start

Stack Management Examples

Configuring Stacking
Managing Stacking Modes
A switch operates in the following modes:
NOTE: The DGS-3100 series family stacking connections have two HX ports.

Stacking - Switches operating in Stack mode run as organized group of switches known as a Stack. A stack
consists of one Stack Master, a Backup Master, and up to four Stack Member Switches. However, in specific
scenarios, a single unit can be considered a Stack of One. A Stack of One is a single unit which is not connected to
any other stacking members.
If the unit is reset to the factory defaults, the unit is reloaded in stacking Auto-Numbering mode.
Advanced Stacking
This section provides information for understanding advanced stacking concepts, including:

Unit ID and how they are allocated

Stacking member start up process.
This section contains the following topics:

Allocating Unit IDs

Assigning Unit IDs
Allocating Unit IDs
Switches are shipped from the factory without a Unit ID and in Auto Assign mode. All switches must be assigned a Unit ID
before switches can operate as stacking members. More than one stacking member cannot receive the same Unit ID. Unit
IDs are assigned by:

Assigned by the system administrator. Unit IDs that are assigned by the system administrator and can only be
changed manually by the system administrator.

If the system administrator does not set the Unit IDs manually, the Auto Assign initializes the switches when they
are powered up. From the switches who are automatically assigned a Unit ID, one of the stacking members is
assigned the Unit ID 1. That stacking member is the Stack Master. If there were more than one switch in the stack,
there is a Master Election and Backup Master Election process. Following the Master Election process, the other
stacking members are assigned a Unit ID by the stack Master. For more information on the Master Election process,
please see Electing a Stacking Master.
Stacking members maintain the assigned Unit ID even after the stacking member is rebooted. The Stack Master may
reallocate IDs during system initialization to resolve duplicate ID conflicts. Manually assigned IDs cannot be changed by
the Stack Master, even if there is a conflict.
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