SG300 Unit in Stacking mode?

[mmahersuse]

Hi,

So it seems like the SG300 series (have here sg300-52) can be run as standalone unit and also in stacking mode.

but i can not find any documentation or howto for this.

can someone pleaes help me with this issue?

greetings,

max

[mpyhala]

Hi Maximilian,

Thank you for posting. Where did you find information showing that the SG300 series support stacking?

[mmahersuse]

Hi,

right in the firmware 1.1.1.8 (newest one). When the Switch is booting, and you press enter following menu appears:

     Startup Menu

[1]  Download Software

[2]  Erase Flash File

[3]  Password Recovery Procedure

[4]  Set Terminal Baud-Rate

[5]  Stack menu

[6]  Back

Enter your choice or press 'ESC' to exit:

Stack menu

[1]  Show unit stack id

[2]  Set unit stack id

[3]  Set unit working mode

[4]  Back

Enter your choice or press 'ESC' to exit:

Enter unit working mode [1 - standalone, 2 - stacking]: 2

Unit working mode changed to stacking.

Current working mode is stacking.

Unit stack id set to 0.

[Boudewijn Plomp]

Sweet! Just what I need. I am very happy you found that.

I hope somebody can confirm if this offers what we would expect from stacking.

[David Hornstein]

Hi all,

Wow,  very very impressive of Maximilian to spot it.     I've never seen or noticed that option myself.  Good on you for being so observant.

I must admit i haven't verified Maximilian's find,  because really I can never use that feature of the 300 series.

I would think we could not expect you to  bypass the startup process via a console cable and modify a mode this switch wasn't destined to do.

The SRW2XX -K9  or as it is known as the 300 series was not meant to be a stacking switch solution or a replacement for the SFE2XXX or SGE2XXX series stackable switches.

When you enter the menu items via telnet or console, post the switch startup, you can put the switch into layer 3 mode, but stacking is greyed out and cannot be altered.

The bottom line is,  switch stacking is not supported by the Small Business Support Center (SBSC) on the 300 series switch.

I have absolutely no idea if version 1.1.1.8 really does support a full stacking feature set. Be a shame to install a unsupported feature set in a business environment and then try to get support on it.  I couldn't blame the good folk at SBSC asking you to factory reset the unit.

regards Dave

[mpyhala]

Very interesting. I am told that although the option shows in the console, the switches are not actually stackable. Maximilian, have you been able to see any stacking functionality?

[David Hornstein]

Hi Mpyhala

Yes I agree Maximilian observation is most interesting, but as you also appreciate,  the 300 are not sold as stackable switches, nor do we support stackable interfaces on the 300 series..

regards Dave

[mpyhala]

Hi Dave,

I understand and agree that stacking is not a supported feature of the SG300 series. I was hoping to get confirmation that the feature is in the console menu (by mistake) but does not actually work. (for future reference)

[mmahersuse]

Hi,

yeah even if you set stacking mode and stackID, nothing special happens afterwards. you also can not configure anything else which have to do with stacking. I thought maybe it is planned for the future, maybe something like stacking via PortChannels or via one fibre uplink between 2 Swtiches.

Actually i dont really need the stacking function, i was just interessted as i found this startup menu.

Could be a good idea, to patch this out in next FW.

regards

Max