Stack Management for the Series 3400cl and 6400cl Switches 
Introduction to Stack Management on Series 3400cl and Series 6400cl Switches 
Components of HP ProCurve Stack Management 
Table 13-1. Stacking Definitions 
Stack  Consists of a Commander switch and any Member switches belonging to that Commander’s stack. 
Commander  A switch that has been manually configured as the controlling device for a stack. When this occurs, the 
switch’s stacking configuration appears as Commander. 
Candidate  A switch that is ready to join (become a Member of) a stack through either automatic or manual methods. 
A switch configured as a Candidate is not in a stack. 
Member  A switch that has joined a stack and is accessible from the stack Commander. 
Commander: Switch A 
Member: Switch C
Candidate: Switch B 
Before: Stack named 
"Engineering" consists 
of Commander and 
Switch "C". Switch "B" is 
a Candidate eligible to 
join the stack. 
Commander: Switch A 
Member: Switch C
Member: Switch B 
After: Switch "B" joins the stack, thus changing from a 
Candidate to a Member of the stack. 
Stack 
Stack Name: 
Engineering 
Stack Name: 
Engineering 
Figure 13-1.  Illustration of a Switch Moving from Candidate to Member 
General Stacking Operation 
After you configure one switch to operate as the Commander of a stack, 
additional switches can join the stack by either automatic or manual methods. 
After a switch becomes a Member, you can work through the Commander 
switch to further configure the Member switch as necessary for all of the 
additional software features available in the switch. 
The Commander switch serves as the in-band entry point for access to the 
Member switches. For example, the Commander’s IP address becomes the 
path to all stack Members and the Commander’s Manager password controls 
access to all stack Members. 
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