TOPIC: Stacking basics

Hi there .... was just about trying to grapple n play ju-jitsu wid networkin basics 8) Wondering if sumone could point me towards any satisfactory resource on Stacking (Switches) ... the advantages ... the alternatives ..... a diagrammatic viewpoint ... whether these r still used in contemporary networkin topologies .... blah blah n so on

lukin fur sumone kind enuf to share their expertise on the same or poiting me to suitable online resources or sumthin alike :roll:

Any updates guys ?.... Chris ?...... Sahir ? Hopefully I hv posted my request in the right section :roll:

kip the ball rolling ........ 8)

I can give you a starter. Stacking is still very much alive and well, with perhaps the best example being Cisco's implementation of it on their 3750 gigabit switches. I've used a number of stacking technologies over the years, many of which claim to be hot-swapable but aren't in practice. These ones really are, and the stack will even automatically run a software upgrade onto a new member when you add it.
As to advantages, the stacking port usually provides a higher capacity interconnect between the units than you could achieve using a port-to-port link, you have the advantage of being able to eaddress the entire stack as one big switch for management purposes and you can manage the whole stack from just a single IP address.
Another benefit is resilience. With Cisco's stacking on the 3750s you connect the stacking cables as a complete loop, which means that you can literally rip out any switch from any position in the stack and the others will retain connectivity and keep on working

Yeah ......

Set me thinking ...... k.... btw got any documentation on the same ? I wanna be able to research it in greater detail !

Also ..... any special reason for a completion of the loop in case of stacking topology ? I assuming this is because most Stackable models include a Stack IN and a Stack OUT interface, each of these Simplex in their own right .... do add to this

Gracias Amigos

:shock:

More information than you can shake a stick at:
http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/hw/switches/ps5023/products_white_paper09186a00801b096a.shtml

agree with bishop

Stack redundancy software and hardware solutions such as Stackwise in the 3750 can avoid some issues associated with stacked switches with no common backplane.

Indeed, dont know what design you have or are working with??
you can also use a loopback cable to double close de circle, for more redundancy.
of course with help of stp, and if connecting the entire stack to layer 3 devices, you can either use hsrp.

looking away the stack, the entire switches stacked are represented as a only logical switch.