Dell PowerConnect PC7024P Stacking Instructions - Page 7
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Stacking Dell PowerConnect 7000 Series Switches
Power-Up Sequencing Considerations
The selection of the manager and standby units is important in situations where the administrator
wishes to utilize the serial port for management, perhaps as a backup console. Management of the
stack via the out-of-band service port or the in-band ports is transparent in a stack.
In a stacking configuration, the power-up sequence determines the manager and standby units. The
switch that the operator selects as the manager should be powered up first and should be allowed to
fully come up. The standby switch should always be directly connected to the manager. Once the
manager and standby have powered up fully, other members of the stack can be powered on
sequentially by powering up the switch adjacent to the last switch powered on.
A stack of units is managed and acts as a single entity when the units are connected together and are
operational. If a unit cannot detect a stacking partner, the unit automatically operates as a stack of 1
with itself as the Master. If a stacking partner is detected, the switch always operates in stacking
mode. One unit in the stack is elected as the Master unit. The Master manages all the units in the
stack. A second switch is elected as the Standby unit, which becomes the Master if the Master unit is
unavailable. The administrator can manually configure which unit is elected as the Standby, or the
system can select the Standby automatically.
NOTE: The terms "Master" and "Manager/Management Unit" are used interchangeably throughout this
document.
When units are operating together as a stack, the following activities occur:
All units are checked for firmware version consistency on startup. By default, units
with different versions of firmware are automatically synchronized with the operational
firmware version on the master switch as they join the stack.
Switch management and protocols such as OSPF are active only on the Master. Unless
administratively disabled, the Nonstop Forwarding (NSF) feature periodically
checkpoints the running configuration and the application state between the Master
and Standby switches during normal stacking operation. If the Master fails, the Standby
switch takes over operation of the stack.
Data forwarding is active on all units in the stack, including the Master. Data
forwarding continues to operate should the master become unavailable.
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