Allied Telesis AT-S63 - Manual (Page 52)

Chapter 3: Basic Switch Parameters
52 Section I: Basic Operations
When Does a Switch Need an IP Address?
One of the tasks of building or expanding a network is deciding which
managed switches need to be assigned a unique IP address. The rule was
that a managed switch needed an IP address if you wanted to manage it
remotely, such as with the Telnet application. However, if a network
contained many managed switches, assigning each one an IP address
was often cumbersome and time consuming. It was also often difficult to
keep track of all the IP addresses.
The enhanced stacking feature of the AT-8400 and AT-9400 series
switches simplifies all this. With enhanced stacking, you need to assign an
IP address to only one switch in each subnet in your network. The switch
with the IP address is referred to as the master switch of the subnetwork.
All switches in the same subnet share the IP address.
When you start a local or remote management session on the master
switch, you have complete management access to all the other switches
in the same subnet.
This feature has two primary benefits. First, it helps reduce the number of
IP addresses you must assign to your network devices. Second, it allows
you to configure multiple switches through the same local or remote
management session.
If your network consists of multiple subnets, you must assign a unique IP
address to at least one switch in each subnet. The switch with the IP
address is the master switch of that subnet.
When you assign a switch an IP address, you must also assign it a subnet
mask. The switch uses the subnet mask to determine which portion of an
IP address represents the network address and which the node address.
You must also assign the switch a gateway address if there is a router
between the switch and the remote management station. This gateway
address is the IP address of the router through which the switch and
management station communicates.
Note
For further information on enhanced stacking, refer to “Enhanced
Stacking Overview” on page 84.
If you do not plan to remotely manage the AT-94xx switches in your
network, then you do not need to assign an IP address to any of them. The
switches operate without an IP address and you can completely manage
them from a local management session, if needed.