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As part of a network infrastructure upgrade at a client site, I’ll be implementing Cisco VSS (Virtual Switching System). This
technology will go a long way to meet some of the stated objectives of this infrastructure upgrade which include : Physical
Hardware Redundancy, High Availability achieved by Switch Clustering, Self-healing, Increased bandwidth (10 GB trunk),
to mention a few.
In a VSS, the data plane of both clustered switches is active at the same time in both chassis. In my VSS implementation,
both VSS Switch members are connected by 2 virtual switch links (VSLs) using 10 Gigabit Ethernet connections between
the VSS members. Virtual Switch Links carry regular user traffic in addition to control data between the VSS members.
Prerequisites:
I have outlined my VSS configuration steps for a pair of Cisco Catalyst 4500X switches below starting with Switch-1. The
following diagram illustrates the physical topology:
Switch 1 Virtual Domain and Port Channel Configuration:
Switch-1(config-vs-domain)#switch 1
Switch-1(config-vs-domain)#exit
Switch-1(config)#interface port-channel 10
Switch-1(config-if)#switchport
Switch-1(config-if)#no shutdown
Switch-1(config-if)#exit
Switch-1(config-if)#channel-group 10 mode on
Switch-1(config-if)#no shutdown
Switch-1(config-if)#channel-group 10 mode on
WARNING: Interface TenGigabitEthernet1/1,2 placed in restricted config mode. All extraneous configs removed!
Switch-1(config)#exit
Switch-1#switch convert mode virtual (Execute the command, but do not reload until VSS configuration is completed on
Switch 2)
Switch-2(config-vs-domain)#switch 2
Switch-2(config-vs-domain)#exit
Switch-2(config)#interface port-channel 20
Switch-2(config-if)#switchport
Switch-2(config-if)#exit
Switch-2(config-if)#channel-group 20 mode on
Switch-2(config-if)#no shutdown
Switch-2(config-if)#channel-group 20 mode on
WARNING: Interface TenGigabitEthernet1/1,2 placed in restricted config mode. All extraneous configs removed!
Switch-2(config)#exit
At this point, console into Switch-1 . You will be prompted to save the work and confirm the switch reboot. Do the same
for Switch-2.
After the VSS configuration and restart, both switches start to function as one. One switch is designated as the Active and
the other as the Standby switch. If I attempt to console into the Standby switch and run commands, I get the following
prompt:
Switch-1-Standy#sh run
Standby console disabled.
Valid commands are: exit, logout
Configure VSS Cluster Uplink to Distribution Stack Switches as Multichassis EtherChannel (MEC):
VSS enables the creation of Multi-Chassis EtherChannel (MEC), which is an Etherchannel whose member ports are
distributed across the member switches in a VSS. The fact that ports from both chassis of the Virtual Switching System are
included in this etherchannel makes it a Multichassis EtherChannel (MEC). My MEC configuration steps are below.
Console into the VSS switch cluster. Doesn’t matter if it’s the Switch master or slave, and configure the etherchannel
switchport as it would on any other switch(In this scenario, I’m consoled into the standby/slave switch):
Switch-1(config)#interface port-channel 30
Switch-1(config)#switchport
Switch-1(config)# no shut
Add ports from both chassis of the VSS Cluster to the Port Channel:
Configure the port channel and the physical ports in the Upstream Distribution Stack Switch:
DataCenterStack(config)#interface port-channel 30
DataCenterStack(config-if)#switchport trunk encapsulation dot1q
DataCenterStack(config-if)#switchport mode trunk
DataCenterStack(config-if)#no shut
Add the Stack switches physical ports to the Channel group. This would be the ports fitted with the X2-10GB-SR fiber
converters on the Distribution Layer 3750E-48PD switches as indicated in the diagram above:
DataCenterStack(config)#interface range TenGigabitEthernet1/0/1-2
DataCenterStack(config-if)#switchport trunk encapsulation dot1q
DataCenterStack(config-if)#switchport mode trunk
DataCenterStack(config-if)#channel-group 30 mode on
DataCenterStack(config-if)#exit
DataCenterStack(config)#
I configured an SVI (Switch Virtual Interface) for telnet or ssh(preferably) management. I would add that it’s important to
verify that the version of Cisco IOS-XE software on both VSS switches is the same.