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To set up an IRF fabric:
Step
Description
1.
Plan IRF fabric setup
Plan the installation site and IRF fabric setup parameters:
Planning IRF fabric size and the installation site
Identifying the master switch and planning IRF member IDs
Planning IRF topology and connections
Identifying physical IRF ports on the member switches
2.
Install IRF member
switches
3.
Connect the grounding
cable and power cords
See "
" and "Connecting the power cord."
4.
Power on the switches
N/A
5.
Configure basic IRF
settings
See "
Configuring basic IRF settings
6.
Connect the physical
IRF ports
See "
Connecting the physical IRF ports
All switches except the master switch automatically reboot, and the IRF
fabric is established.
Planning IRF fabric setup
Planning IRF fabric size and the installation site
Choose switch models and identify the number of required IRF member switches, depending on the
user density and upstream bandwidth requirements. The switching capacity of an IRF fabric equals
the total switching capacities of all member switches.
NOTE:
As your business grows, you can plug a switch into an IRF fabric to increase the switching capacity
without any topology change or replacement.
Identifying the master switch and planning IRF member IDs
Determine which switch you want to use as the master for managing all member switches in the IRF
fabric. An IRF fabric has only one master switch. You configure and manage all member switches in
the IRF fabric at the command line interface of the master switch.
NOTE:
IRF member switches will automatically elect a master. You can affect the election result by
assigning a high member priority to the intended master switch. For more information about master
election, see the IRF configuration guide for your switch.
Prepare an IRF member ID assignment scheme. An IRF fabric uses member IDs to uniquely identify
and manage its members, and you must assign each IRF member switch a unique member ID.