Madge Networks CrossFire 8300, Руководство по эксплуатации

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CrossFire 8300/8301 Stacker Guide to Operation, DOC-7092 v. 1.0 2. Switch Stacker Operation
Creating a Switch Stack
You can create a stack of up to eight switches using the CrossFire 8300 Switch
Stacker. The following sections describe how this stack is formed.
CrossFire 8300 Switch Stacker Description
The CrossFire 8300 Switch Stacker is an eight-port switch matrix interface, that can
connect up to eight CrossFire 8600 Series Switches and/or CrossFire 8730
Switches. Each switch will discover whether it is connected to a switch stacker unit
and whether there are other switches connected to the switch stacker. The
connected switches and the switch stacker will combine logically to form a stack.
The stacker itself, as well as any of the stacked switches, can be either on or off
when you connect or disconnect a switch in the stack. A proprietary shielded cable,
one meter in length, with 50-pin SCSI-2 type connectors is used to connect the
stacker equipment. The cable has
crossover wiring—either end can connect to the
switch stacker or to the switches. The cable is plugged directly into a stack port I/
O connector on the back of the CrossFire 8300 Switch Stacker. The other end is
plugged into the CrossFire 8630 Stacker Link Module that is installed in the
expansion slot on the back panel of the switch.
For a description of the features and physical specifications of the CrossFire 8300
Switch Stacker, see
Chapter 1, “Overview and Specifications” . For details on the
installation of the CrossFire 8300 Switch Stacker, see Chapter 4, “Installation” .
Forming a Switch Stack
When you turn on the switches, they run a set of self-diagnostics. After the
diagnostics, the switches run a stack discovery mode. During this mode, if two or
more switches are connected to a CrossFire 8300 Switch Stacker, the switches will
sense the connection and combine logically to create a stack configuration.
As soon as the stack discovery mode has finished, two things happen:
1. Each switch is assigned a box number .
The box number is determined by the port number on the switch stacker. For
example, the switch that is plugged into port 3 on the CrossFire 8300 Switch
Stacker receives the box number 3. The box number remains the same for the
switch as long as it is plugged into the same port. If a switch is connected to
another port, the box number for that switch will change to correspond to the
new port number.
2. All of the switches in the stack are set to share some of the configuration
information.