Virtual Connect and HP A-Series switches (A5820) IRF Integration Guide

IRF and MAD technology overview

IRF (Intelligent Resilient Framework)

IRF

IRF creates one logical switch from two or more physical switches. The A5820 switch

can support up to nine switches in one IRF domain.

The logical switch uses standard LACP to connect to any vendor, core, distribution,

or edge switches with a failure convergence time of less than 40 milliseconds. The

switch acts as the following:

 Single IP address for management

 Single layer 2 switch

 Single layer 3 router (all protocols)

Implementation is available across multiple products from core to access platforms

A12500, A10500 A9500, A7500, A5820, A5800, and A5500 series switches.

With IRF technology, the network is transformed as shown in the following diagram.

Role

Member switches form an IRF virtual device. Each of them performs one of the

following two roles:

 Master—manages the IRF virtual device

 Subordinate—members that are backups of the master

If the master fails, the IRF virtual device automatically elects a new master from one

of the subordinates. Masters and subordinates are elected through the role election

mechanism. An IRF virtual device has only one master at a time.

IRF port

An IRF port is a logical port dedicated to the internal connection of an IRF virtual

device. An IRF port can be numbered as IRF-port1 or IRF-port2. An IRF port is

effective only after it is bound to a physical port.

Important:

An IRF-Port1 on one device can only be connected to the physical port bound to the

IRF-Port2 of a neighboring device; otherwise, an IRF virtual device cannot be formed.