4-4
Switch Meshing
Switch Meshing Fundamentals
Operating Rules
(See also “Mesh Design Optimization” on page 4-23.)
■ A meshed switch can have some ports in the meshed domain and other 
ports outside the meshed domain. That is, ports within the meshed domain 
must be configured for meshing, while ports outside the meshed domain 
must not be configured for meshing.
■ Meshed links must be point-to-point switch links.
■ On any switch, all meshed ports belong to the same mesh domain.
■ A switch can have up to 24 meshed ports.
■ A mesh domain can include up to 12 switches.
■ Up to five inter-switch, meshed hops are allowed in the path connecting 
two nodes through a switch mesh domain. A path of six or more meshed 
hops between two nodes is unusable. However, in most mesh topologies, 
there would normally be a shorter path available, and paths of five hops 
or fewer through the same mesh will continue to operate.
■ Hub links between meshed switch links are not allowed. 
■ If the switch has multiple static VLANs and you configure a port for 
meshing, the port becomes a tagged member of all such VLANs . If you 
remove a port from meshing, it becomes an untagged member of only the 
default VLAN. 
■ A port configured as a member of a static trunk (LACP or Trunk) cannot 
also be configured for meshing.
■ If a port belongs to a dynamic LACP trunk and you impose meshing on 
the port, it automatically ceases to be a member of the dynamic trunk.
■ Meshing is not supported on ports configured with 802.1X access control.
■ On a port configured for meshing, if you subsequently remove meshing 
from the port’s configuration and reboot the switch, the port returns to its 
default configuration. (It does not revert to any non-default configuration 
it had before being configured for meshing).
■ In a given mesh domain, switches in the same product family must run 
the same switch software version. For example, if you update the software 
version on one 8212zl switch, then you must update the software version 
on any other 8212zl switch in the mesh. HP Networking recommends that 
you always use the most recent software version available for the switches 
in your network. 
■ The spanning-tree configuration must be the same for all switches in the 
mesh (enabled or disabled). If spanning tree is enabled in the mesh, it must 
be the same version on all switches in the mesh: 802.1D, 802.1w, or 802.1s.