Dell Force10 MXL Blade - Failover Roles; MAC Addressing; Stacking LAG

548 | Stacking
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Figure 31-2. Displaying the Stack Master
Failover Roles
If the stack master fails (for example, powered off), it is removed from the stack topology. The standby unit
detects the loss of peering communication and takes ownership of the stack management, switching from
standby to master. The lack of a standby unit triggers an election within the remaining units for a standby
role.
After the former master switch recovers, despite having a higher priority or MAC address, it does not
recover its master role but instead take the next available role.
MAC Addressing
All port interfaces in the stack use the MAC address of the management interface on the master switch.
The MAC address of the chassis in which the master MXL Switch is installed is used as the stack MAC
address.
The stack continues to use the master’s chassis MAC address even after a failover. The MAC address is not
refreshed until the stack is reloaded and a different unit becomes the stack master.
Stacking LAG
When you use multiple links between stack units, FTOS automatically bundles them in a stacking link
aggregation group (LAG) to provide aggregated throughput and redundancy. The stacking LAG is
established automatically and transparently by FTOS (without user configuration) after peering is detected
and behaves as follows:
• The stacking LAG dynamically aggregates; it can lose link members or gain new links.
• Shortest path selection inside the stack: if multiple paths exist between two units in the stack, the
shortest path is used.
FTOS# show system brief
Stack MAC : 00:1e:c9:f1:00:7b
Reload Type : jump-start [Next boot : normal-reload]
-- Stack Info --
Unit UnitType Status ReqTyp CurTyp Version Ports
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
0 Management online MXL-10/40GbE MXL-10/40GbE 9-1-0-853 56
1 Standby online MXL-10/40GbE MXL-10/40GbE 9-1-0-853 56
2 Member online MXL-10/40GbE MXL-10/40GbE 9-1-0-853 56
3 Member online MXL-10/40GbE MXL-10/40GbE 9-1-0-853 56
4 Member online MXL-10/40GbE MXL-10/40GbE 9-1-0-853 56
5 Member online MXL-10/40GbE MXL-10/40GbE 9-1-0-853 56
FTOS#