Applications
Increasing the number of ports
As shown in Figure 8-20, when the port density of a stack is insufficient for an increased number of users, the new member switches can be added to the stack to increase ports.
Increasing Bandwidth
As shown in Figure 8-21, when higher uplink bandwidth is required, new member switches can be added to the stack and their physical links can be bundled into a link aggregation group to increase the uplink bandwidth.
Simplifying Network Topology
As shown in Figure 8-22, multiple switches are virtualized into a single logical switch. This simplified network does not require the Multiple Spanning Tree Protocol (MSTP), so network configuration is much simpler. Inter-device link aggregation also speeds up network convergence and improves network reliability.
Long-Distance Stacking
As shown in Figure 8-23, users on each floor connect to the external network through respective corridor switches, which are far from one another. When corridor switches in a building are connected using stack cables and set up a stack, each building has only one virtual access switch, so the network becomes much simpler.
Furthermore, each building has multiple links to the core network, improving network robustness and reliability. The administrator only needs to configure stacks and does not need to configure all the corridor switches one by one, reducing management and maintenance costs.
