Configuring Switches in a Stack
SecureStack C2 Installation Guide 3-13
Onceinstalledinastack,theswitchesbehaveandperformasasingleswitch.Assuch,you
canstartwithasingleswitchandaddmoreswitchesasyournetworkexpands.Youcan
alsomixdifferentproductsinthefamilyinasinglestacktoprovideadesired
combinationofport
typesandfunctionstomatchtherequirementsofindividual
applications.Inallcases,astackofswitchesperformsasonelargeproduct,andis
managedasasinglenetworkentity.
Whenswitchesareinstalledandconnectedasdescribedbackin“ConnectingHigh‐Speed
StackingCables”onpage 3‐11,thefollowingoccurs
duringinitialization:
•Theswitchthatwillmanagethestackisautomaticallyestablishedandisreferredtoas
theManagerswitch.
•AllotherswitchesareestablishedasMemberswitchesinthestack.
•Thehierarchyoftheswitchesthatwillassumethefunctionofbackupmanagerisalso
determinedincasethecurrent
managermalfunctions,ispowereddown,oris
disconnectedfromthestack.
•Theconsoleportonthemanagerswitchremainsactiveforout‐of‐band(local)switch
management,buttheconsoleportoneachmemberswitchisdeactivated.Thisenables
youtosettheIPaddressandsystempasswordusingasingle
consoleport.Noweach
switchcanbeconfiguredlocallyusingonlythemanager’sconsoleport,orin‐band
usingaremotedeviceandtheCLIsetofcommandsdescribedinthissection.For
proceduresusedforvarioustypesofconnectionstotheConsoleport,referto
“ConnectingtoConsolePort
forLocalManagement”onpage 3‐18.
Onceastackiscreated(morethanoneswitch isinterconnected),thefollowingoccurs:
1. Switch(unit)IDsarearbitrarilyassignedonafirst‐come,first‐servebasis.
2. SwitchIDsaresavedagainsteachmodule.Then,everytimeaboardispower‐cycled,
itwillinitialize
withthesameswitchID.Thisisimportantforport‐specific
information(forexample:ge.4.12isthe12thGigabitEthernetportonswitch#4).
3. Themanagementelectionprocessusesthefollowingprecedencetoassigna
managementdevice:
a. Previouslyassigned/electedmanagementswitch
b. Managementassignedpriority(values1‐15)
c. Hardwarepreferencelevel
d. HighestMACAddress