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To set up an IRF fabric:
Step
Description
1.
Plan IRF fabric setup.
Plan the installation site and IRF fabric setup parameters:
•
Planning IRF fabric size and the installation site
•
Identifying the master switch and planning IRF member IDs
•
Planning IRF topology and connections
•
Identifying physical IRF ports on the member switches
•
2.
Install IRF member
switches.
See "
Installing the switch in a 19-inch rack
."
3.
Connect ground wires
and power cords.
See "
Grounding the switch by using a grounding strip
"
4.
Power on the
switches.
N/A
5.
Configure basic IRF
settings.
N/A
6.
Connect the physical
IRF ports.
Connect the physical IRF ports on switches. Use SFP+, QSFP+, or QSFP28
transceiver modules and fibers for long-distance connection. Use twisted pair
cables or SFP+, QSFP+, or QSFP28 cables for short-distance connection.
All switches except the master switch automatically reboot, and the IRF fabric
is established.
Planning IRF fabric setup
This section describes issues that an IRF fabric setup plan must cover.
Planning IRF fabric size and the installation site
Choose switch models and identify the number of required IRF member switches, depending on the
user density and upstream bandwidth requirements. The switching capacity of an IRF fabric equals
the total switching capacities of all member switches.
Plan the installation site depending on your network solution as follows:
•
Place all IRF member switches in one rack for centralized high-density access.
•
Distribute the IRF member switches in different racks to implement the top-of-rack (ToR) access
solution for a data center.
As your business grows, you can plug H3C S6800 switches into the IRF fabric to increase the
switching capacity without any topology change or replacement.
Identifying the master switch and planning IRF member IDs
Determine which switch you want to use as the master for managing all member switches in the IRF
fabric. An IRF fabric has only one master switch. You configure and manage all member switches in
the IRF fabric at the command line interface of the master switch.
NOTE:
IRF member switches will automatically elect a master. You can affect the election result by
assigning a high member priority to the intended master switch. For more information about master
election, see
H3C S6800 Switch Series IRF Configuration Guide
or
H3C S6800 Switch Series
Virtual Technologies Configuration Guide
, depending on the software version.