User's Manual
9-3
Catalyst 3750-X and 3560-X Switch Software Configuration Guide
OL-21521-01
Chapter 9 Configuring Catalyst 3750-X StackPower
Understanding StackPower
You can also configure a switch connected in a power stack to not participate in the power stack by 
setting the switch to standalone power mode. This mode shuts down both stack power ports. This is a 
switch parameter and is configurable by entering the stack-power switch global configuration command 
followed by a switch number to enter switch stack power configuration mode.
Power Priority
You can configure the priority of a switch or powered device to receive power. This priority determines 
the order in which devices are shut down in case of a power shortage. You can configure three priorities 
per system: the system (or switch) priority, the priority of the high-priority PoE ports on a switch, and 
the priority of the low-priority PoE ports on a switch. 
You set port priority at the interface level for powered devices connected to a PoE port by entering the 
po
wer inline port priority {high | low} interface configuration command. By default, all ports are low 
priority. This command is visible only on PoE ports. 
Note Although the power inline port priority {high | low} command is visible on the Catalyst 3560-X switch 
PoE ports, it has no effect because Catalyst 3560-X switches do not participate in stack power.
You configure the priority values of each switch in the power stack and of all high and low priority ports 
on that switch by using the power priority commands in power-stack configuration mode. These 
commands set the order in which switches and ports are shut down when power is lost and load shedding 
must occur. Priority values are from 1 to 27; switches and ports with highest values are shut down first. 
Note The 27 priorities are used to accommodate power stacks connected in a star configuration with the 
expandable power supply. In that case there would be nine members (switches) per system with three 
priorities per switch. See the hardware installation guide for more information on StackPower star and 
ring configuration.
On any switch, the switch priority must be lower than port priorities. and the high priority value must be 
set lower than the low priority value. We recommend that you configure different priority values for each 
switch and for its high priority ports and low priority ports. This limits the number of devices shut down 
at one time during a loss of power. If you try to configure the same priority value on different switches 
in a power stack, the configuration is allowed, but you receive a warning message.
The default priority ranges, if none are configured, are 1-9 for switches, 10-18 for high-priority ports, 
and
 19-27 for low-priority ports.
Load Shedding
Load shedding is the process of shutting down devices in case of power supply, cable, or system failures. 
For power stacks in power-sharing mode, there are two types of load-shedding: immediate and graceful. 
  • Immediate load shed occurs when a failure could cause the power stack to fail very quickly. For 
example, if the largest power supply in the power stack fails, this could cause the stack to 
immediately start shutting down powered devices.
  • Graceful load-shedding can occur when a smaller power supply fails. Switches and powered devices 
are shut down in order of their configured priority, starting with devices with priority 27, until the 
power budget matches the input power. 










