Stacking

1. Definition

You can connect several Switches over a special Port logical together. So you have following pros:

One big Switch with a lots of Port
One logical Switch
You must only manage one switch
Minimal latency between the devices

Cisco has three difference techniques, FlexStack, StackWise and GigaStack
!!!Note: It works only between the same series!!!

2. Diiference between FlexStack and StackWise

	Cisco Catalyst 2960-S Stacking	Cisco Catalyst 3750-X StackWise
Device limit	4 units	9 units
Stack bandwidth	10G/20G	32G/64G
Architecture	Hardware drop table	Ring (destination stripping)
Dynamic ring load balancing	No	Yes
Stack convergence	1-2 seconds	Few milliseconds
Stack quality of service (QoS)	Applied hop by hop	Applied on ingress
Management	Single IP address, SNMP, syslog	Single IP address, SNMP, syslog
Configuration	Single config and CLI, auto image and config update	Single config and CLI, auto image and config update
Show and debug commands	Unified	Unified
Single forwarding and control plane	Synchronize Address Resolution Protocol (ARP), MAC address, Internet Group Management Protocol (IGMP), VLAN tables	Synchronize Address Resolution Protocol (ARP), MAC address, Internet Group Management Protocol (IGMP), VLAN tables, routing tables
Cross-stack features	Yes	Yes
Single bridge-ID	Yes	Yes
Redundancy	Stack master 1:N redundancy	Stack master 1:N redundancy

3. Supported Switches

3.1 FlexStack

3.1.1 Catalyst 2960 Series

WS-C2960PD-8TT-L
WS-C2960-8TC-L
WS-C2960-24TT-L
WS-C2960-48TT-L
WS-C2960-24LT-L
WS-C2960-24PC-L
WS-C2960-48PST-L
WS-C2960-48TC-L
WS-C2960G-8TC-L
WS-C2960G-24TC-L
WS-C2960G-48TC-L

3.1.2 2960-S Series

WS-C2960S-48FPD-L
WS-C2960S-48LPD-L
WS-C2960S-24PD-L
WS-C2960S-48TD-L
WS-C2960S-24TD-L
WS-C2960S-48FPS-L
WS-C2960S-48LPS-L
WS-C2960S-24PS-L
WS-C2960S-48TS-L
WS-C2960S-24TS-L
WS-C2960PD-8TT-L
WS-C2960-8TC-L
WS-C2960-24TT-L
WS-C2960-48TT-L
WS-C2960-24LT-L
WS-C2960-24PC-L
WS-C2960-48PST-L
WS-C2960-48TC-L
WS-C2960G-8TC-L
WS-C2960G-24TC-L
WS-C2960G-48TC-L

!!! Note: You need the C2960S-STACK Module for the Catalyst 2960 and Catalyst 2960-S series!!!

3.1.3 Cables

CAB-STK-E-0.5M=
CAB-STK-E-1M=
CAB-STK-E-3M=

3.2 StackWise

3.2.1 3560 Series

WS-C3560-8PC-S
WS-C3560-12PC-S
WS-C3560-24TS-S
WS-C3560-24TS-E
WS-C3560-48TS-S
WS-C3560-48TS-E
WS-C3560-24PS-S
WS-C3560-24PS-E
WS-C3560-48PS-S
WS-C3560-48PS-E
WS-C3560G-24TS-S
WS-C3560G-24TS-E
WS-C3560G-48TS-S
WS-C3560G-48TS-E
WS-C3560G-24PS-S
WS-C3560G-24PS-E
WS-C3560G-48PS-S
WS-C3560G-48PS-E

3.2.2 3750 Series

WC-C2948G-GE-TX
WS-C3750G-24TS-E1U
WS-C3750G-24TS-S1U
WS-C3750G-24TS-E
WS-C3750G-24TS-S
WS-C3750G-24WS-S25
WS-C3750G-24WS-S50
WS-C3750G-24T-E
WS-C3750G-24T-S
WS-C3750G-12S-E
WS-C3750G-12S-S
WS-C3750G-12S-SD
WS-C3750G-16TD-E
WS-C3750G-16TD-S
WS-C3750G-24PS-E
WS-C3750G-24PS-S
WS-C3750G-48TS-E
WS-C3750G-48TS-S
WS-C3750G-48PS-E
WS-C3750G-48PS-S
WS-C3750-48PS-E
WS-C3750-48PS-S
WS-C3750-48TS-E
WS-C3750-48TS-S
WS-C3750-24PS-E
WS-C3750-24PS-S
WS-C3750-24TS-E
WS-C3750-24TS-S
WS-C3750-24FS-S

3.2.3 3750-E Series

WS-C3750E-24TD-S
WS-C3750E-24TD-SD
WS-C3750E-24TD-E
WS-C3750E-48TD-S
WS-C3750E-48TD-E
WS-C3750E-48TD-SD
WS-C3750E-24PD-S
WS-C3750E-24PD-E
WS-C3750E-48PD-S
WS-C3750E-48PD-E
WS-C3750E-48PD-SF
WS-C3750E-48PD-EF

3.2.4 Cables

CAB-STACK-50CM=
CAB-STACK-1M=
CAB-STACK-3M=

3.3 GigaStack

3.3.1 3550 Series

WS-C3550-12G
WS-C3550-12T
WS-C3550-24-SMI
WS-C3550-24PWR-SMI
WS-C3550-24-DC-SMI
WS-C3550-24-FX-SMI
WS-C3550-24-EMI
WS-C3550-24PWR-EMI
WS-C3550-48-SMI
WS-C3550-48-EMI

3.3.2 2950 / 2950GSeries

WS-C2950G-48-EI
WS-C2950G-24-EI
WS-C2950G-24-EI-DC
WS-C2950G-12-EI
WS-C2950T-24
WS-C2950C-24
WS-C2950ST-24-LRE
WS-C2950ST-8-LRE
WS-C2950-12
WS-C2950-24
WS-C2950SX-24
WS-C2950T-48-SI
WS-C2950SX-48-SI

3.3.3 2900-XL Series

WS-C2912MF-XL
WS-C2924M-XL

3.3.4 3500-XL Series

WS-C3508G-XL
WS-C3512G-XL
WS-C3524G-XL
WS-C3548G-XL

!!!Note: You need the GigaStack GBICto connect to the other!!!