Reference Guide

Stacking S-Series Switches | 961
Important Points to Remember
• You may stack up to eight S-Series systems.
• You may stack any combination of S-Series models.
• You may not connect 12G and 24G stack ports.
• All stack units must have the same version of FTOS.
S-Series Stacking Installation Tasks
• Create an S-Series Stack
• Add a Unit to an S-Series Stack
• Remove a Unit from an S-Series Stack
• Merge Two S-Series Stacks
• Split an S-Series Stack
Create an S-Series Stack
Stacking modules are pluggable units in the back of the unit that switch traffic between units in a stack.
Units are connected using bi-directional stacking cables; if you stacking modules have two ports, it does
not matter if you connect port A to B, or A to A, or B to B. Install stacking modules before powering the
unit. If you install a stacking module while the unit is online, FTOS does not register the new hardware; in
this case, you must reload the unit.
You may stack any combination of S-Series models that have the same FTOS version. Figure 53-1 shows
two common stacking topologies, ring and cascade (also called daisy-chain). A ring topology provides
some performance gains and stack integrity.
Figure 53-1. Common S-Series Stacking Topologies
A
B
A
B
A
B
A
B
A
B
A
B
Ring Connection Cascade Connection
A
B
Stacking 0
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