Configuration Overview

This chapter lists the basic requirements for building a functional CoreBuilder^® 9000 Enterprise Switch, summarizes the management interface architecture, and provides a general configuration procedure.

The chapter covers these topics:

• Physical Configuration Overview

• System Management Summary

• System Configuration Process

The CoreBuilder 9000 Enterprise Switch 7-slot chassis, 8-slot chassis, and 16-slot chassis support frame-based technology with the Gigabit Ethernet switch fabric module, Fast Ethernet, and FDDI switching modules, and Gigabit Ethernet interface modules.

The CoreBuilder 9000 Enterprise Switch also supports cell-based technology with the Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM) Switch Fabric Module and ATM Interface Modules. However, this Implementation Guide only discusses aspects of a frame-based system. For a list of supported frame-based modules, see Table 1 in About This Guide.

For information about configuring the 7-slot chassis, 8-slot chassis, and 16-slot chassis with ATM modules, see the ATM-related documents on the CoreBuilder 9000 Documentation CD-ROM.

For overview information about all CoreBuilder 9000 components, see the CoreBuilder 9000 Enterprise Switch Getting Started Guide.

Building a functional CoreBuilder 9000 Enterprise Switch requires the following items:

• One 7-slot chassis, 8-slot chassis, or 16-slot chassis

• A sufficient number of power supplies to support all installed components

• A sufficient number of cooling fans to support all installed components

• One Enterprise Management Engine (EME)

• One Gigabit Ethernet (GEN) Switch Fabric Module

• One or more interface modules that connect to your LAN.

  Some examples are:

  • 2-port 1000BASE-LX Gigabit Ethernet Interface Module

  • 36-port 10/100BASE-TX Fast Ethernet RJ-45 Layer 2 Switching Module

  • 10-port 100BASE-FX Fast Ethernet Layer 3 Switching Module

The CoreBuilder 9000 Enterprise Switch offers the following options for high device availability:

• In all chassis types, you can install a second EME (for redundant management and controller functions) or an Enterprise Management Controller (for redundant controller functions).

• In the 8-slot chassis and the 16-slot chassis, you can install a second Gigabit Ethernet (GEN) Switch Fabric Module for redundancy purposes.

• All chassis types support intelligent N+1 power and environmental management systems. See the CoreBuilder 9000 Enterprise Switch Getting Started Guide.

The CoreBuilder 9000 Enterprise Switch also supports functional features, such as the Spanning Tree Protocol and trunking, that promote high network availability.

Together, all of these items form a high-capacity, scalable system with advanced control and availability features that play a key role in your network.

Order of Installation Activities

3Com recommends that you install and configure CoreBuilder 9000 items in the following order:

1 .   Chassis components such as power supplies and fan trays

2 .   Management modules

3 .   Switch fabric modules

4 .   Interface modules

All CoreBuilder 9000 modules support hot-swap functionality so that the system can respond to dynamic changes.

For installation procedures, as well as important restrictions and recommendations for module placement in the chassis, see the appropriate Getting Started Guide, Installation Guide, or Quick Start Guide, available on the CoreBuilder 9000 Documentation CD-ROM.

You can manage the CoreBuilder 9000 Switch using:

• EME Management Console - This command line interface serves as the single point of contact for managing the entire system. It manages all system-level functions such as login management, IP and SNMP connectivity, software downloads to all modules in the chassis, system inventory management, and power management.

  You must log in to the EME prior to connecting to the Administration Console of a particular switch fabric module or interface module. For more information about installing and using the EME, see the CoreBuilder 9000 Enterprise Management Engine User Guide.

• Administration Console - Each switch fabric module and interface module that has an on-board management agent has its own Administration Console, which is a menu-driven user interface. You use the Administration Console interface to configure all parameters related to a particular module as well as to display module statistics and counters.

  Starting from the EME Management Console prompt, you connect to a particular module slot and reach the Administration Console of the module in that slot. You can view the Administration Console from a terminal, a PC, a Macintosh, or a UNIX workstation.

• Web Management software - A suite of HTML-based applications are shipped with your CoreBuilder 9000 Switch. For more information, see the Web Management User Guide.

The software that provides management interfaces and operational functions resides on individual modules and is installed at the factory. Because the software boots automatically from flash memory when you power on the system, the system is immediately ready to configure and manage according to your network needs. Periodically, new versions of software for CoreBuilder 9000 modules are available that you can easily download to the modules.

This guide assumes that you have completed the physical installation process for all items in the CoreBuilder 9000 chassis successfully and that you are ready to begin configuring and managing your system. Use this CoreBuilder 9000 Implementation Guide together with the Command Reference Guide to gain helpful conceptual and practical information.

Configuration Procedure

Because you must install certain features in a predefined order, this section provides a general configuration procedure for you to follow. For each module, follow the steps that apply to your system configuration and network needs and ignore the steps that do not apply.

1 .   Establish management access using:

• EME Management Console - You must configure the EME with certain parameters before you access the Administration Console of any switch fabric module or interface module and before you access the system through an external Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) application. See the CoreBuilder 9000 Enterprise Management Engine User Guide for more information.

• Administration Console - You can access the Administration Console of any switch fabric module or interface module after you have completed required system-level setup procedures on the EME. See your module Quick Start Guide, or Chapter 2 in this guide, for the procedure to connect to the Administration Console.

  You can, of course, continue to manage your system through the local serial connection to the Administration Console, or (after you configure an IP address) you can manage the system through a remote Telnet connection to one of three tools:

  • Administration Console - The standard menu-oriented management interface.

  • Web Management software - A suite of HTML-based applications that is shipped with your system. For more information, see the Web Management User Guide.

• SNMP Applications - In-band management from external SNMP-based applications, such as 3Com Transcend^® Network Control Services. However, you must first configure the SNMP parameters on each module's Administration Console. For more information, see Chapter 2 and Chapter 21 in this guide.

2 .   Configure basic parameters.

One or more of the following topics may apply to each module:

• Module parameters - To manage nonvolatile data (nvData), display your module status information, display warning messages for certain module conditions, and reset baseline counters, see Chapter 3.

• Physical port numbering - To learn the port numbering rules and understand the effects of adding or removing modules, see Chapter 4.

• Ethernet - To label Ethernet ports, set the port mode, enable flow control, and control autonegotiation and other settings, see Chapter 5.

• Bridge-wide and bridge port parameters - To set parameters for Spanning Tree Protocol, IPX SNAP translation, and IP fragmentation, see Chapter 7.

• Trunks - To increase the bandwidth and resiliency between two points, you can aggregate many individual links into a single logical link called a trunk. Configure trunks before you define VLANs. For more information, see Chapter 10.

• FDDI - To configure stations, paths, MACs, and ports, see Chapter 6.

3 .   Define virtual LANs (VLANs).

To create logical workgroups in CoreBuilder 9000 Layer 2 modules, you can define port-based VLANs. Define trunks before you define VLANs.

To create logical workgroups in CoreBuilder 9000 Layer 3 modules, you can define port-based, protocol-based, or network-based VLANs, and set related modes. On CoreBuilder 9000 Layer 3 modules, you must define VLANs before you define routing interfaces.

For more information about VLANs, see Chapter 12.

4 .   Configure routing interfaces and set related parameters.

You can use the following protocols to configure routing interfaces and set related parameters:

• IP - See Chapter 14.

• IP Multicast - See Chapter 16

• Open Shortest Path First (OSPF) - See Chapter 17

• IPX - See Chapter 18.

• AppleTalk - See Chapter 19.

5 .   Configure more advanced traffic control features: packet filters, Quality of Service (QoS), and the Resource Reservation Protocol (RSVP).

To improve LAN performance, shape traffic flows, or implement security controls with standard, custom, predefined, and port group packet filters, see Chapter 13.

To classify, control, and prioritize traffic where available bandwidth is low and your network is carrying time-sensitive or business-critical information, use the QoS and RSVP features. For more information, see Chapter 20.

6 .   Repeat steps 2 through 5 (as applicable) for each module in your system.

7 .   Use device monitoring and other management features.

You can use device monitoring features such as event logging, baselining, roving analysis, and RMON to analyze your network periodically and identify potential network problems before they become serious problems. To test and validate paths in your network, use tools like ping and traceRoute. SNMP and Management Information Bases (MIBs) provide ways to collect performance data on your network. For more information about these features, see Chapter 21.