Owner manual

Chapter 1: Overview
48
Installation and Management Configurations
The AT-9400 Switches can be installed in three configurations.
Stand-alone
Switch
All the AT-9400 Switches can be installed and operated as managed or
unmanaged, stand-alone Gigabit Ethernet switches. Stand-alone switches
are managed by initiating a local or remote session on the unit.
Enhanced
Stacking
You can simplify the management of the switches in your network by
connecting them together into an enhanced stack. What this feature does
is it allows you to quickly and easily transition during a management
session between the different switches in the network. When you are
finished managing one switch in an enhanced stack, you can redirect the
session to another unit without having to end the initial session.
It is important to note, however, that even through the switches of an
enhanced stack can be managed from the same management session,
they operate as independent units, just like stand-alone switches, and are
configured individually.
Other highlights to the enhanced stacking feature are:
 The switches are connected by a common virtual LAN.
 The devices can be located across a large geographical area.
 All AT-9400 Switches support this feature.
For more information, refer to Chapter 2, “Enhanced Stacking” on page
59.
Stacking Three models in the AT-9400 Basic Layer 3 Series support a third
installation configuration called stacking. Built with the AT-StackXG
Stacking Module, a stack merges and synchronizes the network
operations of two or more AT-9400 Switches to form a single, logical unit
so that network functions, like the spanning tree protocols, virtual LANs,
and static port trunks, can span all the Gigabit Ethernet ports of the units in
the stack.
There are two principal advantages of a stack over stand-alone switches.
First, you can configure the switches of a stack simultaneously from the
same management session, rather than individually from different
sessions, simplifying management.
A stack also offers more flexibility in customizing the features of the
switches for your network. For instance, the ports of a static port trunk on a
stand-alone switch must be members of the same switch, while the ports
of a static trunk on a stack can be selected from different switches in the
same stack.