Product Datasheet

NETGEARVirtualChassisstackingtechnologydeliversa
bi-directional,highlyresilienttopology
•HigherthroughputcapacitywithlowerlatencyandjitterforVoIPand
Multicast trac
•Eachswitchinthestackunderstandstheshortestpathtoforward
trac, bi-directionally both up and down
•Dualringarchitecture(orbetter)ensuresthatifaswitchfailswithin
the stack, all others switches can still communicate with one another
•AutomaticUnitReplacement(AUR)guaranteesstackmember’s
replacement without even a stack reboot or manual configuration
•Stackmasterredundancyisalsoautomatic:withsub-secondfailover,
the secondary master will take over and become the new master
without any significant network interruption for the clients
VirtualChassisfunctionality
•Withinthestack,aswitchiselectedasthe“Master”:themasteris
responsibleforthecontrolplaneandforwarding/routingtablesforthe
stack members
•Simultaneously,anotherswitchisselectedasthe“SecondaryMaster”for
sub-second failover in the unlikely event the “Master” fails
•“Master”and“SecondaryMaster”unitcanbemanuallyselectedwithin
the stack, although the process is completely automatic by default for
convenience
•AsforaChassisswitch,thedataplane,thecontrolplaneandthe
management plane are unified but each switch performs its local, line-
rate switching and routing
•AsforaChassisswitch,VLANtagging,portmirroringandlink
aggregation are available from every port to every port across
the stack
DistributedLinkAggregation
•Distributedtrunkingacrossthestackallowsredundantuplinkswithout
creating loops
– LACP automatic load-balancing and port failover ensure greater
bandwidth network layers and maximize redundancy without
spanning tree
•Active-activeconnectionsradicallyimproveperformanceforservers
at the same time
•NETGEARtrueVirtualChassisStackingtechnologydeliversresiliency,
simplicity and better performance throughout the entire network
Technology Overview
Layer2+andLayer3unitsmixedstacking
For budget optimization, M5300 series Virtual Chassis
architecture allows for mixed Layer 2+ Layer 3 units stacking.
• Mechanismissimple:thecongurationismaintainedbytheStackMaster
unit,aswellasthecontrolplaneandallswitching/forwardingtables
– WhentheStackMasterisaLayer3unit,oraLayer2+unitequipped
withitsL3licenseupgrade,theentireStackrunsLayer3soware
package
– WhentheStackMasterisaLayer2+unit,theentireStackwillrunLayer
2+sowarepackage;evenwhenLayer3unitsarepresent
• FunctionalguidelinesforaLayer3StackusingLayer2+unitsareas
follows:
– WhenmixedLayer2+/Layer3units,itisrecommendedtomanually
selectoneLayer3unitastheStackMasterinordertorunLayer3
soware package
– All other units can be Layer 2+ units without any inpact on Virtual
ChassisLayer3performance;theirLayer3capabilitiesareunlockedby
the Master
– For redundancy, it is preferable to manually set up a second Layer 3 unit
astheSecondaryMaster;intheunlikelyeventtheStackMasterunitfails
– ThiswaytheVirtualChassisStackwillautomaticallyrecover,keepingthe
Layer3congurationandallforwarding/routingactivetables
– Ifnot,shouldStackMasterunitfail,theentireVirtualChassisStack
would loose its Layer 3 configuration and downgrade to Layer 2+
soware package
Previousgenerationunitsmixedstacking
For investment protection, M5300 series Virtual Chassis
architectureallowsformixedGSM72xxPSV1H1and
GSM73xxSV2H1unitsstacking.
• Mechanismissimple:with10.0sowarereleasecomesaSDM(System
DataManagement,orswitchdatabase)
– ForcustomersalreadyrunningGSM72xxPSV1H1andGSM73xxS
V2H1stack,theyneedtoupgradethestackrmwareto10.0release
– NewM5300seriesunits(H2newversion)willneedtohavetheirSDM
templatematchtheGSM72xxPS/GSM73xxSrunningtemplate
• Functionalguidelinesforapreviousgenerationmixedstackingareas
follows:
– WhenexistingGSM72xxPSV1H1andGSM73xxSV2H1stack,it
is required to upgrade their firmware to same 10.0.x version as new
M5300 series unit
– Next,itisrecommendedtomakesuretheexistingstackSDMtemplate
isthesameasthenewM5300seriesunitSDMtemplate
– WiththesameSDMtemplate,newM5300seriescanseamlesslyjoin
the existing stack as a new member
MixedStackingisonlysupportedwith10.0sowarerelease.
11.0 and later soware releases will not allow mixed
M5300/GSM72xxPSV1H1/GSM73xxSV2H1stacking.
ProSAFE® Next-Gen Edge Managed Switches Data Sheet
M5300 series
Page 12 of 38