Brocade ICX 6610 Stackable Switch Hardware Installation Guide - Manual (Page 51)

Topology 3 is almost identical to topology 2, except that the "horizontal" substack is not connected to
the second ICX 6610 device, either by design or because the link is broken. This is still a valid topology.
FIGURE 38 Topology 3: Linear and ring
Topology 4: Ring with one backbone device
In the following figure, one ICX 6610 device forms the backbone, and there are six ICX 6450 peripheral
devices in a ring topology. One substack that contains all six peripheral devices.
Topology 4 shows that you can have a mixed stack with only one ICX 6610 device, although this
configuration does not provide high availability or resiliency for the stack because there is no standby
controller.
FIGURE 39 Topology 4: Ring with one backbone device
Topology recommendations
Consider these factors when you implement a topology:
• Limit the number of VLANs with peripheral devices to reduce broadcast and multicast packets
flooding to the peripheral devices.
• Broadcast and multicast packets from a VLAN are flooded to a substack if the substack has any
ports in the VLAN. For this reason, you should limit (localize) VLAN association of substack ports.
Topology 4: Ring with one backbone device
Brocade ICX 6610 Stackable Switch Hardware Installation Guide 49
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