Cisco Systems 3750E manual EtherChannel and Switch Stacks, 37-10

Chapter 37 Configuring EtherChannels and Link-State Tracking

Understanding EtherChannels

Figure 37-5 Load Distribution and Forwarding Methods

Switch with source-based forwarding enabled

EtherChannel

Cisco router

with destination-based forwarding enabled

101239

EtherChannel and Switch Stacks

If a stack member that has ports participating in an EtherChannel fails or leaves the stack, the stack master removes the failed stack member switch ports from the EtherChannel. The remaining ports of the EtherChannel, if any, continue to provide connectivity.

When a switch is added to an existing stack, the new switch receives the running configuration from the stack master and updates itself with the EtherChannel-related stack configuration. The stack member also receives the operational information (the list of ports that are up and are members of a channel).

When two stacks merge that have EtherChannels configured between them, self-looped ports result. Spanning tree detects this condition and acts accordingly. Any PAgP or LACP configuration on a winning switch stack is not affected, but the PAgP or LACP configuration on the losing switch stack is lost after the stack reboots.

With PAgP, if the stack master fails or leaves the stack, a new stack master is elected. A spanning-tree reconvergence is not triggered unless there is a change in the EtherChannel bandwidth. The new stack master synchronizes the configuration of the stack members to that of the stack master. The PAgP configuration is not affected after a stack master change unless the EtherChannel has ports residing on the old stack master.

With LACP, the system-id uses the stack MAC address from the stack master, and if the stack master changes, the LACP system-id can change. If the LACP system-id changes, the entire EtherChannel will flap, and there will be an STP reconvergence. Use the stack-mac persistent timer command to control whether or not the stack MAC address changes during a master failover.

	Catalyst 3750-E and 3560-E Switch Software Configuration Guide
37-10	OL-9775-02