Brocade Communications Systems FastIron SX Hardware Installation Manual Download

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After the modules boot, the active module synchronizes the standby module’s flash code and system-config file with its own.

During normal operation, the active module handles tasks such as obtaining network topology and reachability information and
determining the best paths to known destinations. The active module also monitors the standby module.

The standby module functions in an active standby mode. Keeping the system-config and running-config files on both modules
synchronized allows the standby module to assume the role of active module seamlessly if necessary.

During a switchover, the standby management module takes over the active role and re-initializes all the interface modules in the system
that are not CLI-disabled by the administrator. This may cause a brief interruption of the traffic forwarding.

Management module switchover

The following events cause the standby management module to become the active module, which is called a

switchover

•

The active module becomes unavailable

•

You perform a manual switchover

•

You remove and replace the active management module

The following sections explain how the switchover occurs for each event

Unavailable active module

The following events cause an active module to become unavailable and a switchover to occur:

•

An active module experiences a problem significant enough to cause a system reset of the module.

•

The active module loses power.

When a switchover occurs, the active module resets itself and sends an interrupt signal to the standby module. The standby module then
becomes the active module and the interface modules continue to forward traffic.

The new active module begins to manage the system. When the original active module becomes available again or is replaced, it
assumes the role of standby module.

Manual switchover

In some situations, you may want to manually switch the role of active management module from the currently active module to the
standby module. For instance, when you want to remove the current active management module for maintenance. For example, if the
module in slot 10 is the active module and the module in slot 9 is the standby module and you want the module in 9 to be the active
module and the module in 10 to be the standby module, you can perform a manual switchover using the

switch-over-active-role

command.

For information about performing this task, refer to the “Manually switching over to the standby management module” section.

When the switchover occurs, the standby module becomes the active module.

Hitless switchover is also supported. For more information, refer to the

FastIron Ethernet Switch Administration Guide

Removal and replacement of a management module

For information about how to remove and replace a management module, refer to

Replacing a management module

on page 120.

This section explains how management module redundancy is affected when you remove and replace an active or standby management
module.

How Management module redundancy works