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Hi,
Is anyone using Celerra with aggregated links across stackable switches with a switch other than Cisco 3750? I am looking at the Powerconnect 6xxx series and 3Com 5500 as examples of switches which appear to support this functionality but would like peace of mind that someone else is using them with Celerra.
Currently using FSN with non stackable switches but having a 4Gbit aggregated link across two stackable switches would be preferable. Apologies if this info is readily available somewhere, have had a look and drawn a blank. This is with an NX4.
TIA!
Zeee
Is anyone using Celerra with aggregated links across stackable switches with a switch other than Cisco 3750? I am looking at the Powerconnect 6xxx series and 3Com 5500 as examples of switches which appear to support this functionality but would like peace of mind that someone else is using them with Celerra.
Currently using FSN with non stackable switches but having a 4Gbit aggregated link across two stackable switches would be preferable. Apologies if this info is readily available somewhere, have had a look and drawn a blank. This is with an NX4.
TIA!
Zeee
Rainer_EMC
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Posted April 21st, 2009 06:00
I havent seen it cross-stack LACP being used
Most customers seem to either not have switches/firmware that can do it or their network admins dont like it
EMC doesnt test specific Ethernet Switches for this so you wont find anything on Powerlink or eLab- Thanks very much for your efforts here, that's really useful. I've confirmed that the Powerconnect 62xx will also do the trick and that from a spend perspective the basic image on a Cisco 3750 should suffice for this.
I'll post back once this is in and working. Thanks again. Rainer_EMC
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Posted April 22nd, 2009 09:00
you're very welcome
yes, it would be benefitial if you could report back your experiencesRainer_EMC
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Posted April 29th, 2009 09:00
Especially avoid the old Cisco WS-X6148-GE-TX "oversubscription" modules like the plague
they contain 48 ports but each 8 ports share one ASIC with low buffer and only 1GBit to the backplane
http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/hw/switches/ps708/products_data_sheet0900aecd8017376e.html
If you start hammering more than one link in a port group it will drop frames and performance goes down dramatically
Especially if someone thinks to create a Etherchannel within that port group
Enabling flow control (which is unfortunately off by default on the Celerra) helps quite a lot, but really these type of modules should only be used to connect terminal or laptops but not servers
been there, seen that, ...
Rainer_EMC
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Posted April 21st, 2009 06:00
Switch Vendors and Products that support Link Aggregation Across the
Stack
This is not an exhaustive list of either vendors or products. This list
does not imply any kind of testing or support
3Com
3Com calls it DLA - Distributed Link Aggregation. It is only supported
on their higher-end stackable switches (5500 and 5500G) as of July 2008.
White Paper - XRN and Clustered Stacking Note the parts about XRN and
DLA. Note compatibility table at the bottom of page 4.
http://www.3com.com/other/pdfs/legacy/en_US/3com_503183.pdf
Cisco
CrossStack EtherChannel is supported on the Catalyst 3750 series.
http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/ps7077/index.html
Data Sheet
http://www.cisco.com/en/US/prod/collateral/switches/ps5718/ps5023/product_data_sheet0900aecd80371991.html
White Paper - Cisco StackWise and StackWise Plus Technology
http://www.cisco.com/en/US/prod/collateral/switches/ps5718/ps5023/prod_white_paper09186a00801b096a.pdf
Some newer blade modules such as the 3120 for HP have a similar technology.
http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/ps8749/index.html
Integrating the Cisco Catalyst Blade Switch 3120 for HP c-Class Blade
Enclosure into the Cisco Data Center Network Architecture Design Guide
http://www.cisco.com/en/US/prod/collateral/switches/ps6746/ps8742/ps8749/white_paper_c07-448865.pdf
Cisco Blade modules
http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/ps6746/Products_Sub_Category_Home.html
Cheat sheet:
CSM = Catalyst Switch Module
3012 / 3110 --> IBM
3020 / 3120 --> HP
3030 / 3032 / 3130 --> Dell
3040 --> FSC (Fujitsu Siemens)
VBS = Virtual Blade Switch
For chassis-based switches, like Catalyst 6500 series, they sometimes
call it "multichassis EtherChannel"
Cisco Catalyst 6500 Series Virtual Switching System (VSS) 1440 White
paper
http://www.cisco.com/en/US/prod/collateral/switches/ps5718/ps9336/prod_white_paper0900aecd806ee2ed_ps2797_Products_White_Paper.html
D-Link
Cross Stack Port Trunking DGS-3600 Series Data Sheet
ftp://ftp10.dlink.com/pdfs/products/DGS-3650/DGS-3650_ds.pdf
DGS-3650 Product Page
http://www.dlink.com/products/?pid=640
Nortel
Split MultiLink Trunking (SMLT) or Distributed Multi-Link Trunking (DMLT)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SMLT
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DMLT
ERS2500 Position Paper - Stackable vs. modular wiring closet solutions
See Multi-Link Trunking p.4
http://www.nortel.com/products/01/passport/lan/collateral/nn108321.pdf
Product Brief - Ethernet Routing Switch 5500 Series See MLT and DMLT on
p.2.
http://www.nortel.com/products/02/bstk/switches/collateral/nn119200.pdf