[c-nsp] Cat 3750 StackMaster Selection considerations

[Jeffrey Denton]

On Wed, Oct 1, 2008 at 5:44 PM, Michel Grossenbacher <pashtuk at gmail.com> wrote:
> Hi all
> We're going to use the cat3750 Stacks for the first time soon and I got a
> question regarding the StackMaster selection. Its not about how the
> StackMaster gets elected (thats clear enough from the guide) what I ask
> myself is how much sense does it make to define a StackMaster manually? What
> are the benefits for that beside knowing which Switch is the Master (nice to
> have but..)?
> All switches in a stack will run the same IOS Version and also the same
> feature sets so there wont be any problems with not available EMI/SMI or
> crypto/noncrypto features. Beside the core stacks (1x12 port SFP, 1x24 Gig
> copper) all stacks consist of the same switch type.
> At the moment I dont see much benefit in setting a Stack Master, only added
> complexity.
> Am I missing something?

It's not complex.  The only annoying part is having to reload the
switches that are renumbered.  As to why, the big reason is
troubleshooting 6 months or more down the line.  Gi1/0/1 does to the
first port on the patch panel, etc.  Instead of later trying to figure
out which one is the master, what order the switches are numbered for
each stack, and where a certain port is physically located on the
stack.