H3C Technologies H3C S7500E Series Switches - Manual (Page 12)

1-5
Figure 1-3 IRF virtual device merge
IRF virtual device partition
As shown in Figure 1-4 , when an IRF virtual device is formed, the failure of the IRF link causes physical
disconnection between the two members, and then the IRF virtual device is divided into two IRF virtual
devices. This process is called IRF virtual device partition.
Figure 1-4 IRF partition
Member priority
Member priority determines the role of a member during a role election process. A member with a
higher priority is more likely to be a master. The priority of a device defaults to 1. You can modify the
priority at the CLI.
Working Process
IRF virtual device management involves four stages: Physical Connections , Topology Collection , Role
Election , and IRF Virtual Device Management and Maintenance . The members of an IRF virtual device
are physically connected first, and then they perform topology collection and role election to establish
an IRF virtual device, which then enters the IRF virtual device management and maintenance stage.
Physical Connections
To establish an IRF virtual device, physically connect the physical IRF ports of member devices.
Then, you need to bind a physical IRF port to an IRF port. As a logical port, an IRF port can bind to one
physical IRF port or, to realize link backup, can bind to multiple physical IRF ports (known as aggregate
IRF port).
The S7500E series uses 10 GE optical ports as physical IRF ports. You can connect physical IRF ports
with fibers. Fibers connect physical devices located very far from each other and provide flexible
application.
An IRF virtual device typically has a daisy chain connection, which means IRF-port1 of a member is
connected to IRF-port2 of another, and the two devices are connected to form a single straight
connection, as shown in Figure 1-5 .