Base unit, Initial installation, Stack mac address – Nortel Networks 1000ASE-XD User Manual

Page 50

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Chapter 2 Network configuration

209418-A

Base unit

The base unit is the unique stack unit that you configure with the Unit Select
switch on the front panel. One BayStack 420 Switch in the stack must be
configured as the base unit; all other units in the stack must have their Unit Select
switch set to Off (see

“Unit select switch

on

page 49

). You can assign any single

BayStack 420 Switch as the base unit.

The physical ordering of all of the other units in the stack is determined by the
position of the base unit within the stack. This is important for network
management applications that view the physical ordering of the units within the
stack.

Some characteristics of the base unit are described in the following sections.

Initial installation

During the initial installation of the stack, the software automatically determines
the physical order of all units in the stack according to the position of the base unit
within the stack. Thereafter, the individual units maintain their original unit
numbering, even if you change the position of one or more units in the stack (you
can renumber the units using the Renumber Stack Units screen; see

“Renumber

Stack Units screen” on page 154

).

For example, when you initially power up the stack, the base unit becomes unit 1
and the unit that the base unit connects to becomes unit 2 (and the next unit is unit
3 and so on), until the maximum stack configuration (up to 8 units) is reached. If
you change the base unit to another unit in the stack, the new base unit keeps its
original unit number in the stack.

Stack MAC address

When the switch is participating in a stack configuration, a stack MAC address is
automatically assigned during the stack initialization. The base unit’s MAC
address, with a software offset, is used for the stack MAC address.

For example, if the base unit’s MAC address is 00-00-82-99-44-00, and the stack
software offset is

1F,

then the stack MAC address becomes:

00-00-82-99-44-1F

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