Using FortiSwitch-5003A boards for backplane communication
FortiGate-5060 hardware procedures
FortiGate-5060 Chassis Guide
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01-400-129494-20110912
All FortiGate-5060 chassis are shipped with air baffle filler panels/cards on all but one front
slot that include a warning message to read the FortiGate-5000 documentation before
installing your product. The temporary slot fillers must be removed and all slots filled;
either with FortiGate-5000 series boards or with air baffle slot fillers. Air baffle slot fillers
are similar to blank FortiGate-5000 boards and are required for proper cooling air flow.
To install FortiGate-5000 boards or RTM modules, see the documentation supplied with
the board or module. You can find copies of all FortiGate-5000 series documentation on
the
FortiGate-5000 Series documentation
web page.
Using FortiSwitch-5003A boards for backplane communication
FortiSwitch-5003A boards installed in a FortiGate-5060 chassis in slot 1 or slot 2 provide
fabric backplane switching for all of the FortiGate-5000 series boards installed in the
chassis. Fabric backplane switching is most often used for data communication between
FortiGate-5000 series boards in a chassis. The fabric backplane is a triple replicated
3-channel full mesh switch fabric.
If one or more of the FortiGate boards installed in the chassis are operating in Transparent
mode, two FortiSwitch-5003A boards in a chassis may cause looping because the fabric
backplane results in three connections between the FortiSwitch-5003A boards which
could also result in FortiGate boards installed in the chassis and operating in Transparent
mode to have multiple connections to the same network.
These three connections use FortiSwitch-5003A slot-2/1, slot 7, and slot 12. To avoid
looping you should enable spanning tree on both FortiSwitch-5003A boards or disable at
least 2 of these interfaces on at least one of the FortiSwitch-5003A boards. For example,
you can use the following command to disable the slot-2/1 and slot-7 interfaces:
config switch fabric-channel physical-port
edit slot-2/1
set status down
next
edit slot-7
set status down
end
Caution:
FortiGate-5000 series and FortiSwitch-5000 series modules must be protected
from static discharge and physical shock. Only handle or work with FortiGate-5000 series
and FortiSwitch-5000 series modules at a static-free workstation. Always wear a grounded
electrostatic discharge (ESD) preventive wrist strap when handling FortiGate-5000 series
or FortiSwitch-5000 series modules.
Caution:
Do not operate the FortiGate-5060 chassis with open slots on the front panel or
rear panel. For optimum cooling performance and safety, front panel slots must contain a
FortiGate-5000 series module or an air baffle slot filler and rear panel slots must either be
covered or must contain a rear transition module or slot filler.
Caution:
To avoid damaging components, you should install RTM modules (such as the
FortiGate-RTM-XD2 module) first before you install the corresponding FortiGate front panel
board. If you have already installed a FortiGate board, you should remove it before
installing the RTM module.
