Configuration Guide User guide

FastIron Configuration Guide 827
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Chapter
22
Multi-Chassis Trunking
Table 143 lists the individual Brocade FastIron switches and the Multi-Chassis Trunking (MCT)
features they support.
Multi-Chassis Trunking Overview
Multi-Chassis Trunking (MCT) is an alternative to spanning tree protocols. Spanning tree is a
technology that protects the network against loops by blocking necessary ports, and having the
network span to relearn topologies when one link fails in a network. MCT is a technology that allows
two FSX switches to cluster together and appear as a single logical device. Trunking is a technology
that allows multiple links of a device to appear as one logical link. The combination of MCT and
trunking allows for creating a resilient network topology that utilizes all links in the network,
creating an ideal network topology for latency sensitive applications.
Standard static or dynamic LACP trunks provide link-level redundancy and increased capacity.
However, trunks do not provide device-level redundancy. If the device to which the trunk is attached
fails, the entire trunk loses network connectivity. Two devices are needed for network resiliency
with trunked links to both devices. With spanning tree, one of these trunks would be blocked from
use until the failure of the other trunk is detected, taking from 1 to 30 seconds potentially adding
latency and jitter, not only on the affected devices locally, but through-out the span topology. With
MCT, member links of the trunk are split and connected to two clustered FSX chassis. MCT has
integrated loop detections allowing all links to be active. If a failure is detected, traffic is
dynamically allocated across the remaining links with the failure detection and allocation of traffic
occurring in sub-second time without impacting the rest of the network.
TABLE 143 Supported MCT features
Feature FSX 800
FSX 1600
a
a. MCT ICL and CCEP connectivity is supported only on the following FSX 800 and FSX 1600 mod-
ules.
SX-FI-24GPP, 24-port Gigabit Ethernet copper interface module with PoE+
SX-FI-24HF, 24-port Gigabit Ethernet fiber interface module
SX-FI-2XG, 2-port 10 Gigabit Ethernet interface module
SX-FI-8XG, 8-port 10 Gigabit Ethernet interface module
SX-FI-48GPP, 48-port Gigabit Ethernet copper interface module with POE+ (2 slot high, 2:1 oversub-
scribed)
FWS FCX ICX 6610 ICX 6430
ICX 6450
MCT
b
b. MCT can operate on an FSX chassis that contains the modules listed in the previous footnote plus
legacy modules, provided that CCEP and ICL are configured on the above-mentioned modules.
MCT peering is supported only with FSX switches.
Yes No No No No
Cluster client automatic configuration Yes No No No No
Cluster operation features Yes No No No No
xSTP BPDU forwarding Yes No No No No