Upgrade 6509 from SUP1A to 720 3-B

[johnfdonovan]

We have been trying to upgrade a switch supervisor to the Sup 720.We have followed the recommendations increased power supply, upgrade fan, however, we did test and bake in the software on an E class chassis in slot 5 and worked for 3 days. When trying to start the card up in the 6509 we are getting orange lights across the board and console is spitting out characters and stops. My question is. Is the configuration different when installing in the 6509 E class chassis compared to the 6509? We are being told that it could be the backplane in the chassis for slot 5 and 6 which is causing the issue, any pointers would be greatly appreciated.

[Jon Marshall]

John

No the configuration is not different between an E and a non-E chassis. Both chassis's are compatible with the Sup720.

If you have upgraded power supplies/fan's and installed in slot 5 and it still doesn't work it could well be a problem with the chassis.

Have you had any issues with slot 5 in the chassis before ?

Jon

[johnfdonovan]

Jon,

Thank you for your reply, this is the first time we are using either slot 5 or slot 6 in this chassis, never been used before. Actually the SUP was configured in a 6506 E class chassis,would this be the same?

If it is infact an issue with the slot 5 or 6 as we tested in both with same bad result, is there any diagnostics we can do to be sure this is the root cause?

This is the original configuration on the chassis

Slot 1 WS-X6K-SUP1A-2GE

Slot 2 Empty

Slot 3 WS-X6416-GBIC

Slot 4 WS-X6348-RJ-45

Slot 5 Empty

Slot 6 Empty

Slot 7 Empty

Slot 8 Empty

Slot 9 Empty

Thanks

John

[Jon Marshall]

John

"Actually the SUP was configured in a 6506 E class chassis,would this be the same?"

Should not make a difference. You can run diagnostics on 6500 but i'm not sure it will show you. What you could do is try a moving your WS-X6348-RJ-45 module into slot 5 while running with the Sup1A and see if it comes online.

Jon

[johnfdonovan]

Jon,

I will try that, which reminds me is it possible to try the Sup 720 in any other slots besides 5 or 6? I know specs say that these are teh slots to use, but what about slot 1 or 2 which I know are working with current configuration.

Thanks,

John

[Jon Marshall]

John

No i'm afraid with the 6509 it is slots 5 & 6. This is because these slots provide a connection to the switch fabric for the supervisor. This is why the SFM (Switch Fabric Module), which is a module you could use with a Sup2 to provide connections to the switch fabric, always went in slots 5 & 6.

Jon

[johnfdonovan]

Jon,

So just to get a heads up if the

WS-X6348-RJ-45 comes online in slot 5 then I can assume there is no issue with the slot and can concentrate on the sup720 issue?

Thanks for your assistance,

John

[Jon Marshall]

John

Not necessarily. What i was trying to prove was whether the slot is actually totally unuseable and any module would not work in it.

Bear in mind that the issue could be with the switch fabric connection which hasn't been an issue for you in your 6509 before as you has a Sup1A.

If your supervisors work in the E chassis in slots 5 & 6 then it would definitely point to a problem with your chassis. This is just an extra check you can do.

Jon

[johnfdonovan]

Thanks Jon for all this information,

On the case of the backplane, is it possible that the Sup1A can work normally in Slot 1 and the backplane at slot 5 and 6 are faulty, is the backplane all one connection aside from the switch fabric connection (Can the SFModule be replaced by itself?)What I'm looking at is what ever could be causing the problem in the chassis, for the Sup720 is there more than the backplane that would have to be swapped out, or is it something like the SFM seperate and replacable?

John

[Jon Marshall]

John

There are 2 backplanes in the 6500 chassis. One is a 32Gbps shared bus between all modules. This is what the Sup1A will connect into and also what your other modules will use as it is the supervisor that provides the second backplane which is a high speed switching fabric for modules that can connect into them ie. fabric enabled and fabric only modules.

So the switch fabric ie non 32Gbps shared bus is provided by either

1) SFM (Switch Fabric Module)

2) Supervisor with inbuilt switch fabric connectivity ie. the Sup720. I don't believe the SFM functionality of the Sup720 is a separate part of the module but i could be wrong.

I can't fully answer your question to be honest. I suspect there are some good internal Cisco only docs that have the detail you need. Attached is a link to a 6500 Architecture Paper which goes into a fair bit of detail.

http://www.cisco.com/en/US/prod/collateral/switches/ps5718/ps708/prod_white_paper0900aecd80673385.html

I would still suspect the chassis if your Sup 720s work in the E chassis.

Jon

[Jon Marshall]

John

There are 2 backplanes in the 6500 chassis. One is a 32Gbps shared bus between all modules. This is what the Sup1A will connect into and also what your other modules will use as it is the supervisor that provides the second backplane which is a high speed switching fabric for modules that can connect into them ie. fabric enabled and fabric only modules.

So the switch fabric ie non 32Gbps shared bus is provided by either

1) SFM (Switch Fabric Module)

2) Supervisor with inbuilt switch fabric connectivity ie. the Sup720. I don't believe the SFM functionality of the Sup720 is a separate part of the module but i could be wrong.

I can't fully answer your question to be honest. I suspect there are some good internal Cisco only docs that have the detail you need. Attached is a link to a 6500 Architecture Paper which goes into a fair bit of detail.

http://www.cisco.com/en/US/prod/collateral/switches/ps5718/ps708/prod_white_paper0900aecd80673385.html

I would still suspect the chassis if your Sup 720s work in the E chassis.

Jon

[johnfdonovan]

Jon Thanks for your help, I will let you know how things get on.

John