H3C Technologies H3C S3100 Series Switches - Manual (Page 428)

Operation Manual – Cluster
H3C S3100-52P Ethernet Switch Chapter 1 Cluster
1-5
1.1.5 Switch Roles for a Cluster
From the point of view of a cluster, switches may play different roles, which depend on
their functionality and status. You can specify the role of a switch, or change the role of
a switch following some specific rules.
For a cluster, a switch may play one of the three roles: management device, member
device, and candidate device.
Table 1-1
Switch roles for a cluster
Role Configuration Functionality
Management
device
z
The management device
is configured with a public
IP address.
z
You can issue
management commands
to the management
device across the
Internet, and the
management device will
further process your
commands.
z
The management device
provides a management
interface to all switches in
the cluster.
z
It manages member
devices by redirecting
commands. That is, it
forwards commands to
their intended member
devices for processing.
z
It has the following
functions: neighbor
discovery, topology
collection, cluster
management and cluster
status maintenance, and
supports FTP Server and
SNMP proxies.
Member device
Normally, a member device
is not configured with a
public IP address.
z
A member device acts as a
member in the cluster.
z
It has the following
functions: neighbor
discovery, accepting the
management of the
management device,
running commands
forwarded by proxies and
reporting failures/logs
Candidate device
Normally, a candidate device
is not configured with a
public IP address.
A candidate device is a switch
that does not belong to any
cluster; it has cluster
capability and can be added to
a cluster.
A switch can change from one role to another according to the following rules: