Brocade ICX 6450 Stackable Switches Hardware Installation Guide - Manual (Page 34)

Stacking ports and trunks
There are four SFP ports (ICX 6430) or four SFP+ ports (ICX 6450) on the front panels that can be
used as uplink (data) ports or as stacking ports. The figure below shows the ports in slot 2; the top row
consists of ports 1 and 3, and the bottom row consists of ports 2 and 4.
FIGURE 26 Stacking ports
1. Console port
2. Slot 2 (SFP and SFP + uplink or stacking ports)
3. Out-of-band management port
4. Slot 1 (10/100/1000 Mbps ports)
Ports 1 and 3 are default stacking ports. Default stacking ports have the capability to accept special
stacking packets during a CLI-initiated command sequence of the Secure Setup utility. If ports 1 and 3
are not used as stacking ports, you can use them as data ports. Configuration is not required to use
them as data ports.
All four ports in slot 2 can be used as stacking ports.
The stacking ports can be grouped into two trunks. Ports 1 and 2 can form a trunk; ports 3 and 4 can
form another trunk. By default, ICX 6430 and ICX 6450 devices are not configured for trunking.
On the ICX 6450, ports 1 and 3 are 10 Gbps ports. Without a license at bootup, ICX 6450 ports 2 and
4 come up in 10 Gbps port speed in an error disabled state. To enable ports 2 and 4 to 10 Gbps port
speed, purchase the ICX6450-2X10G-LIC-POD license. For more information about enabling ports 2
and 4 to 10 Gbps port speed, refer to the FastIron Ethernet Switch Administration Guide.
Trunking requirements
• You can connect one or both ports in a trunk. Connecting both ports in a trunk increases stacking
bandwidth and provides resiliency.
• If you connect both ports in a trunk, both ports must connect to both ports of one trunk on another
device.
• When configuring a trunk, the ports in the same column are always trunked (port 1 to port 2, port
3 to port 4). One or both of the two sets of stacking ports can be trunked (or un-trunked).
• For ICX 6430 devices, all stacking ports must be at 1-Gbps port speed to enable trunking. For ICX
6450 devices, all stacking ports must be configured to 10-Gbps port speed to enable trunking.
Stacking configuration requirements
Before configuring the traditional stack using the CLI, physically connect the devices using stacking
cables. For information about configuring a stack, see the FastIron Ethernet Switch Stacking
Configuration Guide.
Stacking ports and trunks
32 Brocade ICX 6430 and ICX 6450 Stackable Switches Hardware Installation Guide
53-1003079-01