stack vs HA for switches

[petercinvest]

for access switches, does it make sense to stack? if we stack the switch, what's the difference between stacked switch and HA (active/passive) solution when one switch is down? 

[Marvin Rhoads]

I can't say I've ever seen an active / passive access switch design.

Stacking is a generally accepted practice. It provides benefit of a single control plane and, depending on the model, potential benefit of things like StackPower which keeps a member switch up even if a power supply fails.

Either way, when a switch (or member switch in a stack) is down, anything plugged solely into that switch will also be offline.