Allied Telesis AT-S63 - Manual (Page 24)

Chapter 1: Overview
24 Section I: Basic Operations
Introduction
The switches in the AT-9400 Series are divided into the Layer 2+ group
and the Basic Layer 3 group. The switches of the two groups share many
of the same features, but there are a number of significant differences,
such as Internet Protocol version 4 packet routing and Virtual Router
Redundancy Protocol, which only the Basic Layer 3 switches support.
Three models in the Basic Layer 3 series support an additional feature
called stacking. What stacking does is it allows you to connect the
switches together so that they function as a unified Gigabit Ethernet
switch, rather than as independent units. When assembled into a stack,
the switches synchronize their actions so that network operations, like
spanning tree protocols, virtual LANs, and static port trunks, are able to
span across all of their Gigabit Ethernet ports.
The two principal advantages of stacking are:
ˆ You can configure the switches simultaneously from the same
management session, rather than individually from different sessions.
This can simplify network management.
ˆ You have more latitude in how you can configure some of the features.
For instance, when creating a static port trunk on a stand-alone switch
you have to choose ports from the same switch. In contrast, a static
trunk on a stack can have ports from different switches in the same
stack.