Catalyst 2960X & 2960S Stacking

Most people may have these common problems and questions about Catalyst 2960X Stacking:

1. “I am attempting to join two identical Cisco 2960X switches into a stack at a remote branch office. …” View the detailed question/Stack version mismatch…
2. “2960x & 2960s stacking? Recently I tried to introduce a 2960x switch into a 2960s stack.

I prepped the bpth switches and made sure the prefer sdm was set to default as well as setting the stack port speed on the 2960s stack to 10 so it’s would be compatible.

Once i stacked the switches i got a version mismatch error and an auto upgrade message, after waiting roughly 40 minutes with no succcessful upgrade i removed the X switch from the stack

Below are the IOS running on both switches

*    1 52    WS-C2960S-48FPS-L  15.0(2)SE5            C2960S-UNIVERSALK9-M

     2 28    WS-C2960S-24TD-L   15.0(2)SE5            C2960S-UNIVERSALK9-M

3 52    WS-C2960X-48FPD-L  15.0(2)EX4            C2960X-UNIVERSALK9-M

Any thoughts on how to successfully stacked these??” Click here to see the questions and answers

3. “2960x stacking confusion…I am getting confused in understanding 2960x stacking

1) What is meant by a ring? i mean if i connect 2 switches together with a single stack cable, will that be a ring ? Or half ring?

2) How 80 gbps stacking bandwidth is calculated?” Read more

About Stacking Tech on Catalyst 2960-X or 2960-XR

Cisco FlexStack-Plus provides stacking of up to eight Cisco Catalyst 2960-X or 2960-XR Series Switches with the optional FlexStack-Plus module (Figure 5).

The FlexStack-Plus module is hot swappable and can be added to any Cisco Catalyst 2960-X or 2960-XR Series Switch with a FlexStack-Plus slot. Switches connected to a stack will automatically upgrade to the stack’s Cisco IOS Software version and transparently join the stack without additional intervention.

To provide investment protection, FlexStack-Plus is backward compatible with FlexStack. Cisco Catalyst 2960-X LAN Base switches equipped with a FlexStack-Plus module can be stacked with Cisco Catalyst 2960-S and 2960-SF LAN Base switches equipped with a FlexStack module (see Table 6). Table 7 lists the scalability and performance of FlexStack with the various software images.

Table6. FlexStack and FlexStack-Plus supported combinations

Table7. FlexStack-Plus scalability and performance

Figure5. Cisco FlexStack-Plus switch stack

Cisco FlexStack-Extended enables a long-distance out-of-the wiring-closet stack option (floor to floor). It allows back-panel stacking of up to eight Cisco Catalyst 2960-X or 2960-XR Series Switches. FlexStack-Extended can be added to a Cisco Catalyst 2960-X or 2960-XR Series Switch with a back-panel stacking slot. Table 8 lists the switch combinations supported with FlexStack-Extended, and Table 9 lists the scalability and performance with the various software images. FlexStack-Extended is supported in Cisco IOS 15.2(6)E or later and is available in two module configurations: a fiber module and a hybrid module.

The hybrid module has a copper port that enables short-reach connectivity across a local stack of switches (Figure 6). It provides investment protection and compatibility with FlexStack-Plus through the copper port, while the SFP+ port supports distance stacking. The fiber module has two SFP+ ports supporting long-reach out-of-the wiring-closet stacking (Figure 7).

Please refer to Table 18 for information about transceiver and cable compatibility with FlexStack-Extended.

Cisco FlexStack-Plus, FlexStack-Extended, and Cisco IOS Software offer true stacking, with all switches in a stack acting as a single switch unit. FlexStack-Plus and FlexStack-Extended provide a unified data plane, unified configuration, and single IP address for switch management. The advantages of true stacking include lower total cost of ownership and higher availability through simplified management as well as cross-stack features including EtherChannel, SPAN, and Flex Links.

Table8. FlexStack-Extended supported combinations

Table9. FlexStack-Extended scalability and performance

Figure6. Cisco FlexStack-Extended: Hybrid module

Figure7. Cisco FlexStack-Extended: Fiber module

More detailed info: https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/products/collateral/switches/catalyst-2960-x-series-switches/data_sheet_c78-728232.html

Learn more: Managing Switch Stacks

More Related Topics:

C2960X-STACK vs. C2960X-FIBER-STK vs. C2960X-HYBRID-STK

FlexStack vs. FlexStack-Plus