Installation guide

Chapter 2: BlackDiamond X8 Series Modules and Fans
BlackDiamond X8 Series Switches Hardware Installation Guide
18
Management Module
The BlackDiamond X8 series switch has two dedicated management module slots, labeled A and B, for
the BDX-MM1 management module. One management module is required for switch operation;
however, adding a second management module increases system availability through redundancy. Each
management module contains a temperature sensor, nonvolatile random-access memory (NVRAM), and
a real-time clock.
The BlackDiamond X8 Management Module has very high speed and scalable control plane support
with an Intel i7 dual core CPU which will run at 2 GHz, 1 GB compact flash and 2 GB ECC DDR3
SDRAM.
Redundant Management Module Activity
The BlackDiamond X8 series switch can operate with a single management module installed or with
two management modules installed for redundancy. When you install a second management module,
one of the management modules operates as the primary, and the other becomes the secondary or
backup. The management modules are solely responsible for upper-layer protocol processing and
system management functions and do not carry data plane traffic between I/O slots.
When you save the switch configuration, it is saved to all installed management modules.
Selection of the primary management module occurs automatically. The following examples describe
the selection process:
● When a BlackDiamond X8 series switch boots with two management modules installed, the
management module in slot A becomes the primary.
If a switch is operating with one management module and a second management module is added
to the switch after it has been powered up, the added management module becomes the secondary.
Management modules that operate as secondary, or backup, management modules can be inserted
and removed without disrupting network services.
● If you remove the primary management module while the switch is operating, the secondary
management module becomes the primary management module.
For example, if you have a BlackDiamond X8 series switch with a primary management module in
slot A and a secondary management module in slot B, and you remove the primary management
module from slot A, the secondary, or backup, management module in slot B becomes the primary.
Features of the Management Module
Figure 3 shows the front panel of the BDX-MM1 management module.
Management modules have the following features on the front panel:
● Management1 port—The 10/100/1000BASE-T Ethernet management port allows you to connect an
Ethernet cable directly from your laptop to the management port to view and locally manage the
switch configurations. This port can also be used to connect the system to a parallel management
network for administration.
● Two USB ports—These ports allow you to attach a single external USB 2.0 flash drive for
downloading new software or rescuing an image. Only one of these ports can be used at any one
time. Only a USB flash drive that is formatted using the file allocation table (FAT) file system is
recognized on this port. Other devices, such as a USB external hard drive, will not be mounted.