Hi Folks, I have a stack of six

[JasReehal]

Hi Folks,

I have a stack of six Nortel 5510-48T switches. I have two new 5510-48T switches, all of which have the same firmware as the other switches in the stack. I also have two cascade cables and I have a burning desire to extend my stack into an eight switch stack!

Obviously I have to break the 'chain' of cascade cables before I can incorporate the two new switches into the chain. My question is ...

Can this operation be performed on a 'HOT' network, that is to say will the user's of the network be impacted in any way, are there any guidelines on how to most effectively achieve my objective without having to tell all the users and without brining the entire network down?

Kind Regards

Jas Reehal.

 

[Yaoul]

Hi,

Yes you can add your switches without causing an outage.
Just ensure before that :
- the new devices run the same diag+firmware version as the stack,
- the new devices aren't setup to become base units (check the switch on the back panel).

I also recommend you to restart your new devices to default configuration before to add them.

- Open the stack ring between the base unit and the last unit of the stack,
- Insert the new units in the stack ring,
- Power on the new units.

It takes a few minutes before they join the stack.

Regards,

y/

 

[VinceWhirlwind]

Breaking the chain of cascade cables will have a momentary effect on packets that are in transit.
I always plan this kind of work for a change window or get an out-of-hours change approved for it.