Allied Telesis AT-S63 User Manual

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Chapter 1: Overview
44
Installation and Management Configurations
The AT-9400 Switches can be installed in three configurations.
Stand-alone
Switch
All the AT-9400 Switches can be installed and operated as managed or 
unmanaged, stand-alone Gigabit Ethernet switches. Stand-alone switches 
are managed by initiating a local or remote session on the unit. 
Enhanced
Stacking
You can simplify the management of the switches in your network by 
connecting them together into an enhanced stack. What this feature does 
is it allows you to quickly and easily transition during a management 
session between the different switches in the network. When you are 
finished managing one switch in an enhanced stack, you can redirect the 
session to another unit without having to end the initial session. 
It is important to note, however, that even through the switches of an 
enhanced stack can be managed from the same management session, 
they operate as independent units, just like stand-alone switches, and are 
configured individually.
Other highlights to the enhanced stacking feature are:
ˆ
The switches are connected by a common virtual LAN.
ˆ
The devices can be located across a large geographical area.
ˆ
All AT-9400 Switches support this feature.
For more information, refer to Chapter 2, “Enhanced Stacking” on page 
55.
Stacking
Three models in the AT-9400 Basic Layer 3 Series support a third 
installation configuration called stacking. Built with the AT-StackXG 
Stacking Module, a stack merges and synchronizes the network 
operations of two or more AT-9400 Switches to form a single, logical unit 
so that network functions, like the spanning tree protocols, virtual LANs, 
and static port trunks, can span all the Gigabit Ethernet ports of the units in 
the stack.
There are two principal advantages of a stack over stand-alone switches. 
First, you can configure the switches of a stack simultaneously from the 
same management session, rather than individually from different 
sessions, simplifying management.
A stack also offers more flexibility in customizing the features of the 
switches for your network. For instance, the ports of a static port trunk on a 
stand-alone switch must be members of the same switch, while the ports 
of a static trunk on a stack can be selected from different switches in the 
same stack.