Stacking Dell Force10 MXL 10/40G Blade Switches Victor Teeter Network Enabled Solutions Team
Stacking Dell Force10 MXL 10/40G Blade Switches This document is for informational purposes only and may contain typographical errors and technical inaccuracies. The content is provided as is, without express or implied warranties of any kind. © 2012 Dell Inc. All rights reserved. Dell and its affiliates cannot be responsible for errors or omissions in typography or photography. Dell, the Dell logo, and PowerEdge are trademarks of Dell Inc.
Stacking Dell Force10 MXL 10/40G Switches Contents Introduction ............................................................................................................. 3 Redundancy ........................................................................................................... 4 Failover roles ......................................................................................................... 4 Stacking LAG ..............................................................................
Stacking Dell Force10 MXL 10/40G Switches 2
Stacking Dell Force10 MXL 10/40G Switches Introduction Numerous Dell™ switches include a stacking feature that allows multiple physical switches to operate as a single logical switch, providing a consolidated interface for management. The Dell Force10 MXL 10/40Gb switch is the latest Dell switch with this feature. Up to six Dell Force10 MXL switches can be connected in a single stack using QSFP+ (40Gb) ports.
Stacking Dell Force10 MXL 10/40G Switches Additional stack members can immediately utilize existing configuration information such as routing and switching configurations, VLANs, ACLs, port profiles, and security certificates. Redundancy By connecting a cable from the last switch in a stack back to the first switch, the operator ensures that a stack has the protection of redundant paths for control and data traffic.
Stacking Dell Force10 MXL 10/40G Switches Another way to completely wipe out all configurations and return to factory defaults is to erase the meta-data (NVRAM) and delete the startup configuration by following the instructions in Restoring factory defaults below. Restoring factory defaults Usually a standalone MXL can be set to factory defaults simply by deleting the startup configuration and reloading the switch (Step 2).
Stacking Dell Force10 MXL 10/40G Switches no ip address shutdown ! interface TenGigabitEthernet 0/2 no ip address --More-Additional stack-unit lines like the one below may be found in an unstacked MXL if one or more expansion modules are present. In order to use these ports for stacking the quad mode will need to be removed. stack-unit 0 port (41, 43, 49, 53) portmode quad Bare Metal Provisioning The system is configured for Bare Metal Provisioning (BMP) mode when it leaves the factory.
Stacking Dell Force10 MXL 10/40G Switches Port numbering When installed in a PowerEdge™ M1000e Enclosure, the MXL 10/40GbE external switch ports are numbered 33 to 56 from the bottom to the top of the switch (ports 1-32 are internal 10G ports): • 40GbE base-module (built-in) ports: In 2x40GbE mode of operation (default), the ports are numbered 33 and 37. • In 8x10GbE mode of operation, the ports are numbered 33 through 40. The 40GbE mode of operation is required for stacking.
Stacking Dell Force10 MXL 10/40G Switches Combining split 10GbE SFP+ ports into a single 40GbE QSFP+ port The MXL 10/40GbE Switch supports splitting each 40GbE port on the base module or a 2-Port 40GbE QSFP+ expansion module into eight 10GbE SFP+ ports using a breakout cable. However, ports must be combined into single 40Gbe QSFP+ ports to operate in Stacking mode. Note: By default, the 40GbE ports on a 2-Port 40GbE QSFP+ expansion module come up in 8x10GbE (quad) mode as eight 10GbE ports.
Stacking Dell Force10 MXL 10/40G Switches listed here when in port mode. If there is no “stack-unit” listing for the first port number, then the ports are not split and are running at 40GbE. 2. interface fortyGigE 0/33 : interface TenGigabitEthernet 0/41 Each individual port mode is listed further down in the configuration. If the interface is listed as fortyGigE then it may be used for stacking. If it is TenGigabitEthernet, then it may not be used for stacking.
Stacking Dell Force10 MXL 10/40G Switches Current Type : MXL-10/40GbE - 34-port GE/TE/FG (XL) Master priority : 0 Hardware Rev : X00 Num Ports : 56 Up Time : 1 wk, 3 day, 23 hr, 5 min FTOS Version : 8.3.16.0E0 Jumbo Capable : yes POE Capable : no Burned In MAC : 00:1e:c9:cc:bb:21 No Of MACs :3 To force a particular switch to become the Master during stack creation, be sure that switch has the highest Priority of all switches joining the stack.
Stacking Dell Force10 MXL 10/40G Switches FTOS(conf)#no stack-unit 0 port p portmode quad Please save and reload for the changes to take effect. where p is the port to be converted. Refer to the section Combining split 10GbE SFP+ ports into a single 40GbE QSFP+ port for more details on how to use this command. Note: MXL stacking support QSFP+ cable lengths at distances of up to 7m. Dell offers cables in lengths of 1m, 3m, 5m, and 7m that can be used for this purpose.
Stacking Dell Force10 MXL 10/40G Switches Figure 5.
Stacking Dell Force10 MXL 10/40G Switches For this example the built-in ports 33 and 37 and the expansion ports 41 and 45 are used as shown in the above figure. For each switch in the stack, two cables are run from stacking ports on a switch to the two stacking ports on the next switch. This process is repeated until all of the devices are connected. To complete the ring topology for the stack, two stacking ports on the last switch are connected to two stacking port on the first switch.
Stacking Dell Force10 MXL 10/40G Switches In this example, stack-groups 0 and 1 correspond to the base MXL interfaces 33 and 37. Stack-groups 4 and 5 correspond to the two 40G QSFP+ expansion module interfaces inserted in slot 1. Since stacking MXL switches does not use 10Gig Interfaces, there are no stack-groups associated with the SFP+ or 10GbaseT port that may be installed. Those modules and ports are only used for uplinks on the MXL switch.
Stacking Dell Force10 MXL 10/40G Switches Maximum stack-group per unit A maximum of 4 stack-groups per unit can be configured. In a ring topology, that would be 2 stackgroups in each direction, i.e 80Gbps stacking bandwidth. In a two unit stack, a maximum of 4 stackgroups between the two units (i.e 160Gbps stacking bandwidth) is allowed. Trying to configure more than 4 stack-groups results in the error shown here.
Stacking Dell Force10 MXL 10/40G Switches 4 Member 5 Member online online MXL-10/40GbE MXL-10/40GbE MXL-10/40GbE MXL-10/40GbE 8.3.16.0E0 56 8.3.16.0E0 56 Issue show system stack-port status command to see the topology and link status for each port.
Stacking Dell Force10 MXL 10/40G Switches Certain configuration changes on the unit such as “fanout” and “stack-groups” may require saving and reloading the entire stack. Refer to the MXL User Guide for more information on provisioning. Adding new members to an existing stack Adding a new member into an existing stack is achieved with the same simple tasks used during the initial stack setup. If more than one new member is to be added, repeat the following steps to add one new member at a time. 1.
Stacking Dell Force10 MXL 10/40G Switches 1. Find the version of firmware each stack member is currently running. FTOS#show system brief Stack MAC : 00:1e:c9:cc:bb:1b Reload Type : normal-reload [Next boot : normal-reload] -- Stack Info -Unit UnitType Status ReqTyp CurTyp Version Ports ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------0 Standby online MXL-10/40GbE MXL-10/40GbE 8.3.16.0E0 56 1 Management online MXL-10/40GbE MXL-10/40GbE 8.3.16.
Stacking Dell Force10 MXL 10/40G Switches ============================================= Type Boot Type A B ---------------------------------------------------------------Stack-unit 0 FLASH BOOT 8.3.15.0[boot] 8-3-16-0 Stack-unit 1 FLASH BOOT 8.3.15.0[boot] 8-3-16-0 Stack-unit 2 FLASH BOOT 8.3.15.0[boot] 8-3-16-0 Stack-unit 3 FLASH BOOT 8.3.15.0[boot] 8-3-16-0 Stack-unit 4 FLASH BOOT 8.3.15.0[boot] 8-3-16-0 Stack-unit 5 FLASH BOOT 8.3.15.0[boot] 8-3-16-0 5.
Stacking Dell Force10 MXL 10/40G Switches Un-stacking (removing member units) Minimizing traffic flow interruptions is always the primary goal when removing member units from a stack. Four possible scenarios pertaining to unstacking or removing a member unit are: 1. 2. 3. 4.
Stacking Dell Force10 MXL 10/40G Switches Proceed to copy the file [confirm yes/no]: yes ! 9582 bytes successfully copied Synchronizing data to peer Stack-unit !!!! .... FTOS#reload Once the reload has completed, unplug stacking cables from all ports where stacking was removed.
Stacking Dell Force10 MXL 10/40G Switches For more information on stacking the Dell Force10 MXL, please refer to the Stacking chapter of the Dell Force10 MXL User Guide available at http://www.dell.com/manuals.
Stacking Dell Force10 MXL 10/40G Switches Appendix A – Stacking scenarios 23
Stacking Dell Force10 MXL 10/40G Switches Appendix B – Port mapping 24
Stacking Dell Force10 MXL 10/40G Switches Appendix C - Network switch versions Version information for the network switches used in creating this document are as follows: Network switch Dell Force10 XML Software version 8.3.16.0, E8.3.16.163, E8.3.16.
