Concept Guide

Stacking
Using the Dell EMC Networking OS stacking feature, you can interconnect multiple switch units with stacking ports or front end
user ports. The stack becomes manageable as a single switch through the stack management unit.
The system accepts Unit ID numbers from 1 to 6 and it supports stacking up to six units.
Topics:
• Stacking Overview
• Important Points to Remember
• Stacking Installation Tasks
• Stacking Configuration Tasks
• Verify a Stack Configuration
• Remove Units or Front End Ports from a Stack
• Troubleshoot a Stack
Stacking Overview
Dell EMC Networking OS elects a management (master) unit, a standby unit, and all other units are member units.
Dell EMC Networking OS presents all of the units. For example, to access Ten GigabitEthernet Port 1 on Stack Unit 1, enter
interface tengigabitethernet 1/1 from CONFIGURATION mode.
Stack Management Roles
The stack elects the management units for the stack management.
● Stack master — primary management unit, also called the master unit.
● Standby — secondary management unit.
● Stack units — the remaining units in the stack, also called stack members. The system supports up to six stack units.
The master holds the control plane and the other units maintain a local copy of the forwarding databases. From the stack
master you can configure:
● System-level features that apply to all stack members.
● Interface-level features for each stack member.
The master synchronizes the following information with the standby unit:
● Stack unit topology
● Stack running configuration (which includes ACL, LACP, STP, SPAN, and so on.)
● Logs.
The master switch maintains stack operation with minimal impact in the event of:
● Switch failure
● Inter-switch stacking link failure
● Switch insertion
● Switch removal
If the master switch goes off line, the standby replaces it as the new master and the switch with the next highest priority or
MAC address becomes standby.
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