8
Stacking Dell Networking Switches: N4032, N4032F, N4064, N4064F
Note: The terms Master and Manager/Management Unit are often used interchangeably in regards to
stacking.
In most cases, a switch that is added to an existing stack becomes a stack member, and not the
Management Unit. When a switch is added to the stack, one of the following scenarios takes place
regarding the management status of the new switch:
-
If the switch has the Management Unit function enabled but another Master unit is already active, then
the switch changes its configured Management Unit value to disabled.
-
If the Management Unit function is unassigned and there is another Management Unit in the system,
then the switch changes its configured Management Unit value to disabled.
-
If the Management Unit function is enabled or unassigned and there is no other Management Unit in
the system, then the switch becomes Management Unit.
-
If the Management Unit function is disabled, the unit remains a non-Management Unit.
-
If the entire stack is powered OFF and ON again, the unit that was the Management Unit before the
reboot remains the Management Unit after the stack resumes operation.
A Unit number for the switch can be manually set. To avoid unit-number conflicts, one of the following
scenarios takes place when adding a new member to the stack:
-
If the switch has a unit number that is already in use, then the unit added to the stack changes its
configured unit number to the lowest unassigned unit number.
-
If the switch added does not have an assigned unit number, then the switch sets its configured unit
number to the lowest unassigned unit number.
-
If the unit number is configured and there are no other devices using the unit number, then the switch
starts using the configured unit number.
-
If the switch detects that the maximum number of units already exist in the stack making it unable to
assign a unit number, then the switch sets its unit number to unassigned and does not participate in
the stack.
After the stack is created, the
show switch
command displays the roles of each switch.
console#
show switch
Management Standby Preconfig Plugged-in Switch Code
SW Status Status Model ID Model ID Status Version
--- ---------- --------- ---------- ------------- ---------- ---------
1 Mgmt Sw Ν4032 Ν4032 ΟΚ 6.0.1.3
2 Stack Mbr Oper Stby N4032F N4032F OK 6.0.1.3
