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jamieb
Asked: 2012-11-06 10:40:16 +0800 CST

Stacking two Dell PowerConnect 6248's: do I need one or two cables?

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I'm planning on stacking Dell PowerConnect 6248 switches together. I know that I need one stacking module in each switch, but I'm uncertain about the cabling. Since I only have two switches, do I need to loop them using two cables or will one stacking cable suffice? Thanks!

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2 Answers

  1. You could get away with one. However unlikely, but possible, losing a stacking module would sever the connection between switches, and isolate the stacking function from one another. A second interconnect would provide redundancy, and possibly increased bandwidth between stack members.

    This whitepaper has some good information about stacking: Stacking Dell PowerConnect 6200 Series Switches

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  2. One cable will work since it is bidirectional transmission, but you won't have any redundancy in this case. This is what @mcmeel meant (he never mentioned using a second module in the other bay, he spoke about interconnects).

    Using n>1 cables between the stacking modules of both switches or even multiple stacking modules in each switch enables you to use Link Aggregation according to IEEE 802.1AX-2008, which offers you two big features:

    • Redundancy: If a cable fails (which is more likely then ones might think), you have still an intact second route for your packets/data to flow. If you even have multiple stacking modules (both module bays occupied), you have redundancy in case an entire module fails.
    • Speed: Depending on the load balancing algorithms of the switches, it is possible to achieve higher data rates, because the packets are distributed over the n interconnections. This results in higher throughput through the Link Aggregation Group compared to a single interconnection
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