Dell PowerConnect J-8216 Software Guide for JUNOS version 10.3 - Page 764

Dell PowerConnect J-Series Ethernet Switch Complete Software Guide for Junos OS • Global Management of Member Switches in a Virtual Chassis on page 693 • High Availability Through Redundant Routing Engines on page 693 • Adaptability as an Access Switch or Distribution Switch on page 693 Basic Configuration of a Virtual Chassis with Master and Backup Switches To take advantage of the Virtual Chassis configuration's higher bandwidth capacity and software redundancy features, you need to interconnect at least two J-EX4200 switches in a Virtual Chassis configuration. You can start with a default configuration, composed of two J-EX4200 member switches interconnected through the dedicated 64-Gbps Virtual Chassis ports (VCPs) on their rear panels. These ports do not have to be configured. They are operational as soon as the member switches are powered on. See "Example: Configuring a Virtual Chassis with a Master and Backup in a Single Wiring Closet" on page 717 for additional information. Expanding Configurations-Within a Single Wiring Closet and Across Wiring Closets As your needs grow, you can easily expand the Virtual Chassis configuration to include more member switches. Within a single wiring closet, simply add member switches by cabling together the dedicated VCPs. For more information about expanding Virtual Chassis configurations within a single wiring closet, see "Example: Expanding a Virtual Chassis Configuration in a Single Wiring Closet" on page 722 and "Example: Setting Up a Multimember Virtual Chassis Access Switch with a Default Configuration" on page 727. You can also expand a Virtual Chassis configuration beyond a single wiring closet. Interconnect switches located in multiple wiring closets or in multiple data center racks by installing the optional SFP or SFP+ uplink modules and connecting the uplink module ports or by connecting the 1-gigabit network interfaces in a J-EX4200-24F switch. The small form-factor pluggable (SFP) uplink module provides four ports for 1-gigabit transceivers. The SFP+ uplink module provides two ports for 10-gigabit SFP+ transceivers or four ports for 1-gigabit SFP transceivers. To use SFP and SFP+ uplink module ports or J-EX4200-24F network interfaces for interconnecting member switches, you must first explicitly configure them as Virtual Chassis ports (VCPs). This procedure includes configuring these ports of a standalone J-EX4200 switch as VCPs prior to interconnecting the new member switch with the existing Virtual Chassis configuration. See "Example: Configuring a Virtual Chassis Interconnected Across Multiple Wiring Closets" on page 733 for detailed information. When you are creating a Virtual Chassis configuration with multiple members, you might want to deterministically control the role and member ID assigned to each member switch. You can do this by creating a preprovisioned configuration. See "Example: Configuring a Virtual Chassis Using a Preprovisioned Configuration File" on page 752 for more information. You can add switches to a preprovisioned configuration by using the autoprovisioning feature to automatically configure the uplink module ports as VCPs on the switches being added. See "Adding a New Switch to an Existing Virtual Chassis Configuration (CLI Procedure)" on page 786 for detailed information. 692