Ethernet switch Stack

The maximum rate of Ethernet switch stack is faster, Which is multiple times faster than the port rate of the switch. Not all switches support Ethernet switch stack, when the number of ports that a single switch can provide is insufficient to meet the requirements of the network computer, more than two switches must provide the corresponding number of ports, which also involves the connection between switches. Basically, there are two ways to connect a vswitch: Ethernet switch stack and cascade.

GBIC and SFP

GBIC: CiscoGBIC (GigaStackGigabitInterfaceConverter) is a common and low-cost Gigabit Ethernet switch stack module that provides high-speed connections between Cisco switches. It can build Ethernet switch stacks with high-density ports, it can also be connected to a server or a gigabit trunk.

It provides a low-cost and high-performance solution for the transition from a fast Ethernet to a Gigabit Ethernet. In addition, optical fiber can also be used to connect to the Remote High-Speed Backbone Network. GBIC modules are divided into two categories: GBIC modules for common cascade use and GBIC modules for stacking Ethernet switches.

Cascade GBIC Module

The GBIC modules used for Cascade are divided into four types, one is 1000Base-TGBIC module (1), which is applicable to cat5e or cat6 twisted pair wires and the maximum transmission distance is 100 meters; the second is the 1000Base-SXGBIC module (as shown in figure 2). It is applicable to multimode multi-fiber (MMF) and has a maximum transmission distance of 500 meters.

3. 1000Base-LX/LHGBIC module, applicable to single-mode optical fiber (SMF) with a maximum transmission distance of 10 km; 4. 1000Base-ZXGBIC, applicable to long-wave single-mode optical fiber with a maximum transmission distance of 70 km ~ 100 km. The GBIC module is installed in the GBIC slots of the Gigabit Ethernet module to provide gigabit connections to other switches and servers. 3 shows the GBIC installed in the ciscoft-st4006 Gigabit Ethernet module.

GBIC module for Ethernet switch Stack

The GBIC module of the Ethernet switch stack is used to implement cheap gigabit connections between switches. Applicable to the GigaStackGBIC Ethernet switch stack module of ciscostmst2950/3550. It should be noted that GigaStackGBIC is specifically used for the stacking of Gigabit Ethernet switches between switches. The connection between GigaStackGBIC uses a dedicated Ethernet switch stack cable.

SFPSFP (SmallForm-factorPluggables) can be simply understood as an upgraded version of GBIC. The SFP module (as shown in Figure 5) is half the size of the GBIC module. You can configure more than twice the number of ports on the same panel. The SFP module is basically the same as that of GBIC, so it is also called Mini-GBIC by some switch manufacturers ).

Ethernet switch Stack

Switches that provide interfaces for stacking Ethernet switches can be connected through dedicated Ethernet switch stacking lines. Generally, the bandwidth of an Ethernet switch stack dozens of times the speed of the switch port. For example, for a Mbps switch, the bandwidth between the two switches can reach hundreds of megabytes or even Gbit/s. Multiple Ethernet switches are stacked by a multi-port stacked parent module that provides backplane bus bandwidth and a single-port stacked sub-module, and different switches are inserted to implement Ethernet switch stacking.

However, not all switches support Ethernet switch stacking, depending on the brand of the switch, or even whether the model supports Ethernet switch stacking. Ethernet switch stacking requires not only dedicated stacking cables, but also dedicated Ethernet switch stacking modules, such as CiscoGigaStackGBIC.

In addition, switches in the same stack must be of the same brand. Otherwise, there is no way to Stack Ethernet switches. Therefore, if you want to use the Ethernet switch stack to expand the port, you must make a purchase plan in advance. The stacking of switches is the quickest and most convenient way to expand ports. Ethernet switch Stack has many advantages, including the following:

High-density Port

Vswitches of different brands support different layers. Generally, at least two layers can be stacked, and at most eight layers can be stacked. Therefore, it can provide hundreds of ports for intensive computer networks in a small space.

Ease of Management

Ports can be expanded in cascade mode between vswitches of the same brand or different brands, and cascade between vswitches and hubs. Therefore, level-1 Unicom is often an effective means to connect vswitches of different brands.