Brocade FastIron GS and FastIron GS-STK Hardware Installation Guide
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Installing the device
2
DRAFT: BROCADE CONFIDENTIAL
Installing FastIron GS-STK stackable devices
Install your stackable devices in the same manner as standalone devices. When you have installed
all of your stack devices in a rack or on a table, you will need to cable them together into a stack
topology.
IronStack technology supports linear and ring stack topologies.
page 34 show four devices connected in a linear and ring topology, respectively. Although these
illustrations show four devices, you can connect up to eight devices in a single stack.
NOTE
Since you can use either of the two 10Gb ports as stacking ports in any order, your cabling
configuration may differ from that shown in these illustrations.
Use the .5 meter CX4 cables that shipped with each FGS-STK device to connect a linear stack
topology. For a ring topology, you will need an additional, longer (3.0 meter) CX4 cable.
NOTE
The total maximum stacking distance in linear and ring stack topologies is 3,281 feet (1,000 meters
). This length can consist of multiple inter-switch stacking connections adding up to 1,000 meters.
A single inter-switch stacking connection should not exceed 1,000 meters.
lists the recommended cable lengths for various connection distances.
TABLE 6
XFP Optical Link Cable Distances
Data Rate
Fiber Type
Modal Bandwidth @
850nm (Mhz-km)
Worst case distance range
specified (m)
Typical range (m)
9.95-10.3125
Gbps
62.5/125um MMF
160
2 - 26
62.5/1.25um MMF
200
2 - 33
50/125um MMF
400
2 - 66
50/123um MMF
500
2 - 82
50/125um MMF
2000
2 - 300
>400
Average distance range is between 2 - 33 meters. Brocade recommends using the 2000 bandwidth version for
distances greater than 80 meters.