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Brocade FastIron X Series Chassis Hardware Installation Guide
53-1001723-02
How Management module redundancy works
5
After the modules boot, the active module synchronizes the standby module’s flash code and
system-config file with its own.
During normal operation, the active module handles tasks such as obtaining network topology and
reachability information and determining the best paths to known destinations. The active module
also monitors the standby module.
The standby module functions in an active standby mode. Keeping the system-config and
running-config files on both modules synchronized allows the standby module to assume the role of
active module seamlessly if necessary.
During a switchover, the standby management module takes over the active role and re-initializes
all the interface modules in the system that are not CLI-disabled by the administrator. This may
cause a brief interruption of the traffic forwarding.
Management module switchover
The following events cause the standby management module to become the active module, which
is called a
switchover
:
•
The active module becomes unavailable
•
You perform a manual switchover
•
You remove and replace the active management module
The following sections explain how the switchover occurs for each event
Unavailable active module
The following events cause an active module to become unavailable and a switchover to occur:
•
An active module experiences a problem significant enough to cause a reset of the module.
•
The active module loses power.
When a switchover occurs, the active module resets itself and sends an interrupt signal to the
standby module. The standby module then becomes the active module and the interface modules
continue to forward traffic.
The new active module begins to manage the system. When the original active module becomes
available again or is replaced, it assumes the role of standby module.
Manual switchover
In some situations, you may want to manually switch the role of active management module from
the currently active module to the standby module. For instance, when you want to remove the
current active management module for maintenance. For example, if the module in slot 10 is the
active module and the module in slot 9 is the standby module and you want the module in 9 to be
the active module and the module in 10 to be the standby module, you can perform a manual
switchover using the switch-over-active-role command.
For information about performing this task, refer to
“Manually switching over to the standby
When the switchover occurs, the standby module becomes the active module.
Hitless switchover
is also supported. For more information, refer to
