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350 | Chapter 19. Switch Stacks
ProSafe M4100 and M7100 Managed Switches
The Stack Master and Stack Members
A switch stack is a set of up to 8 switches connected through their stacking ports. The switch
that controls the operation of the stack is the stack master. The stack master and the other
switches in the stack are stack members. Stack members use stacking technology to behave
and work together as a unified system. Layer 2 and Layer 3 protocols present the entire
switch stack as a single entity to the network.The following figure shows an example of
switches that are interconnected to form a stack.
Connecting AX742 modules
with stacking cable
Figure 37. Stacked switches
Stack Master
The stack master is the single point of stack-wide management. From the stack master, you
configure:
• System-level (global) features that apply to all stack members.
• Interface-level features for all interfaces on any stack member
.
A switch stack is identified in the network by its network IP address. The network IP address
is assigned according to the MAC address of the stack master
. Every stack member is
uniquely identified by its own stack member number.
The stack master contains the saved and running configuration files for the switch stack. The
configuration files include the system-level settings for the switch stack and the
interface-level settings for all stack members. Each stack member retains a copy of the
saved file for backup purposes. If the master is removed from the stack, another member is
elected master
, and then runs from that saved configuration.
All stack members are eligible stack masters. If the stack master becomes unavailable, the
remaining stack members participate in electing a new stack master
. A set of factors
determine which switch is elected the stack master. The stack master is elected or re-elected
based on one of these factors and in the order listed: