CHAPTE R
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Cisco IE 3010 Switch Software Configuration Guide
OL-23145-01
5
Clustering Switches
This chapter provides the concepts and procedures to create and manage IE 3010 switch clusters. You
can create and manage switch clusters by using the command-line interface (CLI), or SNMP. For
complete procedures, see the online help. For the CLI cluster commands, see the switch command
reference.
This chapter focuses on IE 3010 switch clusters. It also includes guidelines and limitations for clusters
mixed with other cluster-capable Catalyst switches, but it does not provide complete descriptions of the
cluster features for these other switches. For complete cluster information for a specific Catalyst
platform, refer to the software configuration guide for that switch.
This chapter consists of these sections:
Understanding Switch Clusters, page 5-1
Planning a Switch Cluster, page 5-4
Using the CLI to Manage Switch Clusters, page 5-13
Using SNMP to Manage Switch Clusters, page 5-14
Note We do not recommend using the ip http access-class global configuration command to limit access to
specific hosts or networks. Access should be controlled through the cluster command switch or by
applying access control lists (ACLs) on interfaces that are configured with IP address. For more
information on ACLs, see Chapter 32, “Configuring Network Security with ACLs.”.

Understanding Switch Clusters

A switch cluster is a set of up to 16 connected, cluster-capable Catalyst switches that are managed as a
single entity. The switches in the cluster use the switch clustering technology so that you can configure
and troubleshoot a group of different Catalyst desktop switch platforms through a single IP address.
In a switch cluster, 1 switch must be the cluster command switch and up to 15 other switches can be
cluster member switches. The total number of switches in a cluster cannot exceed 16 switches. The
cluster command switch is the single point of access used to configure, manage, and monitor the cluster
member switches. Cluster members can belong to only one cluster at a time.
The benefits of clustering switches include: