[c-nsp] Stacking 3750X vs diverse 4948E

[scott owens]

How about Nexus 5010s.

I think they bundle them for less than 2 x 3750X .
We have both but the 3750s are used where we needed L2/L3, the 5Ks for just
L2 up to VSS or 7Ks.


you can boot them separately and they do LACP / Etherchannel just fine.




>   2. Stacking 3750X vs diverse 4948E (David Coulson)
> Message: 2
> Date: Fri, 18 May 2012 14:55:57 -0400
> From: David Coulson <david at davidcoulson.net>
> To: cisco-nsp at puck.nether.net
> Subject: [c-nsp] Stacking 3750X vs diverse 4948E
> Message-ID: <4FB69B3D.3060802 at davidcoulson.net>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed
>
> In a datacenter environment, we typically deploy 4948 top-of-rack
> switches with L2 uplinks to our 6500 core - Systems get connections into
> two different switches and rely on OS NIC bonding (mostly Linux) to
> support switch failures. Switches running STP and in the last four years
> we've had no issues with this design (including failures of systems
> connected to diverse switches).
>
> A new proposed configuration utilizes stacked 3750X switches, where
> servers would be connected to multiple switches within the same stack. I
> have next to no experience in the low-end switches that do stacking, but
> from a general risk management perspective, it seems like a many eggs
> and single basket configuration.
>
> Does anyone have any solid experience with 3750X switches, or stacking
> in a datacenter in general? I've seen plenty of stacks for
> closets/end-users, but I don't see many in a top-of-rack config. Is
> Cisco stacking typically 'reliable', in that when a switch fails it will
> leave the remainder of the stack functional? What about a software
> issue? Does the whole stack crap out and reload, or does the master just
> fail and a new one get elected?
>
> I realize it's a pretty broad question, but it boils down to - Is a
> stacked switch config significantly less reliable/resilient/available
> than two TOR switches?
>
> David
>
>