Considerations for forming a SecureStack Mixed Stack

FAQ_User — Thu, 21 Nov 2013 07:50:00 GMT

Article ID: 12760

Products
SecureStack C3, C2
SecureStack B3, B2

Goals
Combine multiple SecureStack C3 and SecureStack C2 units into a single "mixed" stack.
Combine multiple SecureStack B3 and SecureStack B2 units into a single "mixed" stack.

Solution
For the SecureStack stackable product line, permitted "mixed stack" combinations - C3<->C2 and B3<->B2 - are outlined in 5834. A broader process overview is provided in 7086.

All units must be running the same x2 (C2 or B2, respectively) firmware version before being physically interconnected by stack cables, and an x3 (C3 or B3, respectively) unit must ultimately be the stack manager.

The procedure to integrate units of identical firmware version into a single stack is explained in 7086, in one of these three sections, according to your needs:

Installing a New Stackable System of Up to Eight Units
Installing a Previously-Configured System of Up to Eight Units
Adding a New Unit to an Existing Stack

Management failover
If the C3 or B3 which has been assigned the stack manager role fails, there is no automated provision to ensure that any remaining C3 or B3 will pick up the role in its place, in preference to a C2 or B2. To assure failover to a C3 or B3 when such are available for this purpose, use the 'set switch <unit#> priority 15' command (7086) to give all C3s or B3s a high management priority.

Licensing compatibility
* When running C2 firmware on a C3; any previously installed C3L3-LIC (5828) and/or C3IPV6-LIC (5873) is functionally ignored though will appear in the output of a 'show license' command, and it is not possible to add or remove either of these licenses because the necessary C3 commands are not recognized.
* When running B2 firmware on a B3; either a B3POL-LIC or B2POL-LIC may be used (5781) - but not both within the same stack. As a corollary to this, a B3POL-LIC is not compatible with B2s in a mixed stack.

topic Considerations for forming a SecureStack Mixed Stack in FAQs

Considerations for forming a SecureStack Mixed Stack