M6220

Dell PowerEdge M1000e:
PowerConnect M6220 Switch Stacking Use Case Guide
By Bo Griffin, Richard Horton, and Jason Pearce
Glossary ...............................................................................................................................................................1
What is stacking?.................................................................................................................................................2
Why stack?...........................................................................................................................................................2
PowerEdge M1000e Modular Chassis IOM Fabric Overview..............................................................................3
Initial Stack Configuration....................................................................................................................................7
Common Use Cases ............................................................................................................................................9
Stacking Modular Switches for Higher Server Throughput.............................................................................................. 9
Stacking Modular Switches for Increased Server Availability......................................................................................... 10
Stacking Modular Switches for Server Virtualization...................................................................................................... 11

Summary............................................................................................................................................................13

The Dell PowerConnect M6220 is a key component of the FlexIO architecture of the
M1000e Modular Server Enclosure. FlexIO delivers a level of IO flexibility, bandwidth,
features, and investment protection unrivaled in the blade server market. The M6220 is a
break-throughmodular design that packages a high-performance 24-port stackable
Ethernet switch with modular bays that can be populated with 10GbE or stacking modules
to provide customers with the flexibility to create exactly the switch they need for their
environment. One of the most powerful features of the M6220 is the ability to stack multiple
switches together, thereby creating a single logical switchthat can be managed and
configured as one. This stacking capability is especially powerful when combined with the
ability to uplink to the Ethernet core via high bandwidth 10GbE connections. This White
Paper describes the basics of stacking, a description of the hardware and architecture,
configuration hints, and some sample use cases.

Glossary
CMC - “Chassis Management Controller”; themanagement interface for the
M1000e Modular Server Enclosure
GbE - “Gigabit Ethernet”
10GbE - “10 Gigabit Ethernet”
IOM - “I/O Module”; a module installed in the back of the PowerEdge M1000e
enclosure, such as an Ethernet pass-through, Ethernet switch, Fibre
Channel switch, or other communication fabric device
LACP - “Link Aggregation Control Protocol”; protocol for creating a single logicalnetwork link by combining multiple physical links.
LAG - “Link Aggregate Group”; a group of switch ports that are placed into the
same channel group, often used with the 802.3ad protocol
LOM - “LAN-on-Motherboard”; a networking card integrated into the system board
of the server; while it may be possible to disable a LOM through BIOS
Setup, it is not possible to physically remove a LOM from thesystem

© Dell, Inc.

Mezzanine An I/O card that plugs into the server blade system board to add additional
Card- I/O connectivity; for example, an Ethernet controller or Fibre Channel host
bus adaptor; the Mezzanine Card is analogous to a PCIe card in a
monolithic server.
NIC - “Network Interface Controller”; a networking adapter (card)
Switch ID - Enumerated identification number of...