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Catalyst 2950 Desktop Switch Software Configuration Guide
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Chapter 6 Clustering Switches
Planning a Switch Cluster
Note Catalyst 2950 standby command switches running Release 12.1(9)EA1 or later can connect to candidate
and member switches in VLANs different from their management VLANs.
Planning a Switch Cluster
Anticipating conflicts and compatibility issues is a high priority when you manage several switches
through a cluster. This section describes these guidelines, requirements, and caveats that you should
understand before you create the cluster:
• Automatic Discovery of Cluster Candidates and Members, page 6-5
• HSRP and Standby Command Switches, page 6-12
• IP Addresses, page 6-15
• Host Names, page 6-16
• Passwords, page 6-16
• SNMP Community Strings, page 6-16
• TACACS+ and RADIUS, page 6-17
• Access Modes in CMS, page 6-17
• Management VLAN, page 6-18
• LRE Profiles, page 6-18
• Availability of Switch-Specific Features in Switch Clusters, page 6-19
Refer to the release notes for the list of Catalyst switches eligible for switch clustering, including which
ones can be command switches and which ones can only be member switches, and for the required
software versions and browser and Java plug-in configurations.
Automatic Discovery of Cluster Candidates and Members
The command switch uses Cisco Discovery Protocol (CDP) to discover member switches, candidate
switches, neighboring switch clusters, and edge devices in star or cascaded topologies.
Note Do not disable CDP on the command switch, on cluster members, or on any cluster-capable switches
that you might want a command switch to discover. For more information about CDP, see Chapter 20,
“Configuring CDP.”
Following these connectivity guidelines ensures automatic discovery of the switch cluster, cluster
candidates, connected switch clusters, and neighboring edge devices:
• Discovery through CDP Hops, page 6-6
• Discovery through Non-CDP-Capable and Noncluster-Capable Devices, page 6-7
• Discovery through the Same Management VLAN, page 6-8
• Discovery through Different Management VLANs, page 6-9
• Discovery of Newly Installed Switches, page 6-10