Took a bit of time but here is the webinar Q&As.
Switch Stacking – ArubaOS Switch Q&A
Q1: What do you mean by "reliability"? are the front panel ports not reliable then?
A1: Both are reliable
Q2: Can I mix different models an versions of Switch?
A2: Recommended to have same model and version, even if you have a different version the added switch would download from commander
Q3: Does a Firmware Version be propagated by the Commander?
A3. Yes
Q4: How is a Firmware Update done?
A4. Once you upgrade the stack the commander will first download the firmware and then once you issue reboot the other members of the stack would also download the firmware from commander
Q5: on an existing stack, is it possible to see if the method is deterministic, or plug and go? (relevant to page 18)
A5. There is no show command for now
Q6: can I use different model switch in stacking
A6. No
Q7: in stacking how password recovery process
A7. Same as in a standalone one; but the steps to be performed in the stack commander
Q8: firmware upgrade how it will process like first member then standby after thatcommander ?
A8. Firmware would be downloaded by commander first and then by standby/members
Q9: We have a ring topology and we configured with deterministic method, so we have a commander and we have a standby.
If there is a failover event we experienced that if the old commander comes back again with the highest priority it doesn't get back
automatically the commander role. But If we reboot the actually commander, the old commander (with the highest priority) get back the commander role.
It is the same behavior with standby members.
A9: In the standby case during its reboot it will take over a role as one of the member, because the next member in the stack will content for the standby election which would chose that role for standby.
Only if the whole stack is rebooted the standby will retain the role.
Is it a normal behaviour? So After a failover event we always have to reboot the actual commander and standby switch to stand back to the original state?
If you need actual commander and standby back to its role, you need to reboot the current commander and standby.
Q10: We have an other question related stacking. After the failover when all of the switch working again one of the led on the switch is still blinking. We checked the cli and everything seams ok but the led is still blinking. Do you know why this led is blinking or how can we terminate this blinking behavior? (without a reboot) . Sorry I forgot that there are 7 member of the stack for the first question
A10: We need to know which LED light was blinking, any specific port in questions or status LED?
Have to verify if the member is stable and there shouldn’t be continuous blinking if the stack is stable. You may see all LED lights flashing during the election process
Q11: How to restart a stack member without restarting the entire stack?
A11. #boot member <member id>
Q12: If a member has a higher firmware as the commander when joining the stack - will it downgrade it's firmware accordingly?
A12. Yes it will downgrade the firmware from the commander
Q13: In the mesh they are three equivalent paths if the connection from 2-3 is broken:
2-1-3
2-5-3
2-4-3
Why the stack choose 2-5-3 as the best path?
A13. The path 2-5-3 is only for representation. It can be any among the equivalent paths mentioned above
Q14: You mentioned some slides before that a member switch does not hold any configuration. So what configuration is removed when removing a member from the stack?
A14. All configuration irrespective of stacking configuration
Q15: When members are renumbered for whatever reason - will the configuration adjusted accordingly? So if I had a specific config on port 1 on member 1 and renumbered member 1 to 4 - will the configuration then "moved" to port 1 of member 4?
A15. No. A re-number is possible only through “stacking member <member number> remove” command. This command removes the config associated with the member also. So, in the example above, when member 1 is removed, the specific config on port 1 of member 1 will be removed. So the config will not be “moved” if the removed member 1 is later provisioned as member 4 in the stack.
Q16: How is "greater fragment" decided when a stack with an even number of members is broken exactly in the middle (leaving to fragments with 2 members at a 4 stack as example)
A16. The fragment which has a commander will be decided as the greatest commander (Active fragment)
Q17: Why would one need to change the Member ID's? What impact do they have on the Stack? I don't see any reason because Commander and Standby are defined by Priority Number
A17. There is no direct re-number option. There is a command to remove a stack member (like “stacking member 3 remove”). This removes all the configuration corresponding to this member also. This removed member can be added as another member with provision command (like “stacking member 4 type <J number> mac-address <MAC address>”).
The aim for the member remove and provision commands mentioned above is to remove and add members to the stack; not to re-number them.
Providing some additional info.
To replace a faulty switch with retaining the config, the switch should be disconnected from the stack first. Then provision another switch of same J number in the stack using command “stacking member <member number> type <J number>”. Then make the stacking connections and power on the replacement switch.
Q18: In the previous slide, the route if a link fails doesn´t look like optimal route... :(
Slide 9, the shortest route should be 2->3->4, the 2->1->2->3->4 is larger
I'm talking about the right picture
A18: I agree with that, the picture is stating when it tries to reach 4 it sense the link to 4 is down then it chooses the best path which is 2->3->4
After the link 1-4 is broken, 1 will inform 2 about this. The path in 2 will be re-programmed after getting this info. After reprogramming, the packet will directly go as 2-3-4.
Q19: In regards to the deterministic methods, is it member 1 which is elected Commander?
A19. Yes
Q20: For what is priority used in stack member configuration?
A20. It is to decide which one should be commander, standby & member when setting up deterministic method.
Q21: How to minimise client data traffic interruption during a stack upgrade?
A21. Upgrade needs to done in scheduled down time and there is no method to minimize it since the entire stack/switch would go through reboot process during the upgrade