Administrator Guide

Stacking 193
9
Stacking
Dell Networking N1500, N2000, N3000, and N4000 Series Switches
This chapter describes how to configure and manage a stack of switches.
The topics covered in this chapter include:
• Stacking Overview
• Default Stacking Values
• Managing and Monitoring the Stack (Web)
• Managing the Stack (CLI)
• Stacking and NSF Usage Scenarios
Stacking Overview
The Dell Networking N2000, N3000, and N4000 Series switches include a
stacking feature that allows up to 12 switches to operate as a single unit. The
Dell Networking N1500 Series switches stack up to four units using 10GB
Ethernet links configured as stacking. Dell Networking N2000 and N3000
Series switches have two fixed mini-SAS stacking connectors at the rear. Dell
Networking N2000 Series switches only stack with other Dell Networking
N2000 Series switches, and Dell Networking N3000 Series switches stack with
other Dell Networking N3000 Series switches.
Dell Networking N4000 Series switches stack with other Dell Networking
N4000 Series switches over front-panel ports configured for stacking. Dell
Networking N1500 Series switches stack using the 10G SFP+ front-panel
ports.
Dell Networking N1500 Series switches support high-performance stacking
over the 10G front-panel ports, allowing increased capacity to be added as
needed, without affecting network performance and providing a single point
of management. Up to four Dell Networking N1500 Series switches can be
stacked using any 10G port as long as the link bandwidth for parallel stacking
links is the same. Note that configuring a 10G port for stacking also
configures the adjacent partner 10G port for stacking.