Cloud-Managed Stacking

Aruba Instant On supports cloud-managed stacking, which is a method of binding multiple Instant On switches so that they can act as a single switch. The switches must be directly connected to each other to form a chain or ring topology. This feature is supported only on the Instant On 1960 Series switches. A maximum of four switches can be deployed in a stack. Each Instant On site can accommodate multiple stacks. The switches in the stack comprise of the following roles:

  • Conductor—Primary switch to which the uplink cable is connected.
  • Backup—Secondary switch which takes over the responsibilities of the Conductor in case of a failover.
  • Member—Constitutes the remaining two switches in the stack.

The Conductor is responsible for providing Layer 3 services. In an event where the Conductor goes offline, the Backup switch takes over the responsibilities of the Conductor until the Conductor is back online.

A stack must contain at least two Instant On 1960 Series switches. A stack can be created by one of the following methods:

  • Creating a new site during the initial setup.
  • Creating a new stack after the initial setup
  • There are a total of six SKUs for the Instant On 1960 switches and a stack can be formed by picking any variant of the 1960 switches. For example, an Instant On 1960 24 port PoE switch can be stacked with a 1960 8p 1G 4p 2.5G hybrid access switch.
  • Instant On 1960 switches support Hybrid Stacking. For example, an Instant On stack can contain a mix of 1960 access or aggregator switches to form a stack.
  • Instant On 1960 stack can be connected with either 1G / 2.5G or 10G ports however it is recommend to connect both ends of the stacking ports to the same speed.

Creating a New Stack— During Initial Setup

During the initial setup, a new stack can be created when creating a new site, or when extending the network. To discover Instant On 1960 Series switches during the initial setup, the switches must be connected in a ring or chain topology. A minimum of two switches and maximum of four switches need to be connected on the same layer 2 network. The layer 2 network should be the management network.

The following procedure allows you to create a new stack during the initial setup of an Instant On site:

  1. Connect the Instant On 1960 Series are connected in a ring topology and follow the instructions provided in Managed Sites. The discovery protocol should be able to detect the Instant On 1960 switch stack.
  2. In the Add new devices page, select the stack from the list of discovered devices in the network.
  3. Click Finish.

    The newly created stack is now displayed in the site inventory.

To create a new stack using the extend my network setting, follow the instructions provided in Extend using a Cable. This method allows you to deploy a stack only when it is connected in a ring topology.

Create a New Stack—After Initial Setup

The following procedure allows you to create a new stack in an inventory comprising of more than one Instant On 1960 Series switches in the site inventory:

  1. Click the Devices () tile on the Instant On web application home page or click Devices from the navigation pane on the left. The Device Overview page is displayed.
  2. Use one of the following methods to view the 1960 switch details and create a stack:
    1. Clicking on the switch name of the standalone Instant On 1960 Series switch on which the stack is to be created.
    2. Hover the cursor to the end of the row of the standalone 1960 switch, click the button, and select Create Stack from the dropdown list.
  3. Under Overview > Create Stack, click the Create button.
  4. Select the Instant On 1960 Series switches that should be added as part of the stack.
  5. If you have selected multiple devices, then under Role select the device that will be assigned as the role backup.
  6. Click Finish.

    The newly created stack is now displayed in the site inventory.

Out of the four Instant On 1960 switches in a stack, one switch should be assigned the role of the Conductor and another switch as the Backup. The remaining two switches in the stack will assume the role of Member switches. If a stack comprises of only two switches, then it would have a Conductor switch and a Backup switch, but no Member switch.

Adding an Instant On 1960 Series Switch to an Existing Stack

The following procedure allows you to add an Instant On 1960 Series switch to an existing stack in the inventory, which comprises of less than three Instant On 1960 Series switches:

  1. Click the Devices () tile on the Instant On web application home page or click Devices from the navigation pane on the left. The Device Overview page is displayed.
  2. Use one of the following methods to view the switch stack details:
    1. Clicking on the switch name of the standalone Instant On 1960 Series switch on which the stack is to be created.
    2. Hover the cursor to the end of the row of the standalone 1960 switch stack , click the button, and select View Details from the dropdown list.
  3. Click the Stack Members tab. Ensure that the Instant On 1960 switch to be added in the stack is listed in the device inventory as a standalone 1960 Series switch.
  4. Click Add Members.
  5. In the Add Devices window, select the Instant On 1960 Series switch you wish to add to the stack and then click Add.

    The selected Instant On 1960 Series switch is now added as a member to the stack in the device inventory.