32
Identifying physical IRF ports on the member switches
Only the 10-GE ports on the IRF-capable interface cards listed in "
Interface cards
" can provide IRF
connections for the 5500 EI and 5500 SI switches. To use the IRF feature, you must order the cards
separately.
IMPORTANT:
All the switches in a ring topology and the non-edge switches in a daisy chain topology must have at least
one two-port interface card or two one-port interface cards.
Planning the cabling scheme
When you plan the cabling scheme, follow these guidelines:
•
Ports assigned to the same IRF port must be on the same interface card.
•
For long-distance connections, use XFP/SFP+ transceiver modules and fibers. For short-distance
connections, use CX4/SFP+ cables or twisted-pair cables. For more information, see "
Interface
cards
" and "
SFP/SFP+/XFP transceiver modules and SFP+/CX4 cables
."
•
If 2-port interface cards are used and the IRF links are not aggregate:
{
You can connect the interface card in slot 1 (MOD 1) on a member switch to the MOD 1 or
MOD 2 card on its neighboring switch.
{
Connect the left port on one interface card to the right port on the other interface card, as shown
in
Figure 34
.
Figure 34
Use 2-port interface cards to set up single-link IRF connection
•
If 2-port interface cards are used and IRF links are aggregate:
{
Connect the interface card MOD 1 on one switch to the interface card MOD 2 on the other
switch.
{
A port on one interface card can connect to any port on the other interface card, as shown
in
Figure 35
. For example, you can connect the left port on one interface card to the left or right
port on the other interface card.
