5 FAQs of Cisco Catalyst 9000 Stacking

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As Catalyst 9000 switches are going to be the replacements of the old Catalyst switches, we now should learn more about the features of Catalyst 9000. In this article, we will list 5 FAQs of Cisco Catalyst 9000 stacking features.

1.Stack-Wise

Q: What Stack-Wise do these Catalyst 9000 support?

A: The Catalyst 9200 supports StackWise®-160 while the Catalyst 9200L supports StackWise-80. The Catalyst 9300 supoorts StackWise-480.

However, Catalyst 9400 and Catalyst 9500 do not support Stack-Wise.

Catalyst 9400 chassis Stackwise-virtual (which offers the functionalities as VSS) is currently targeted with 16.9 release with single supervisor.

(See Catalyst 9400 Models>>>)

Catalyst 9500 supports Cisco StackWise® virtual technology.

2.Stacking Bandwidth

Q: How many Stacking bandwidth do those Catalyst 9000 support?

A: Table 1 shows the stack-wise bandwidth of those switches.

Model	Stacking support	Stacking bandwidth support
C9200 SKUs	StackWise®-160	160 Gbps
C9200L SKUs	StackWise-80	80 Gbps
C9300 SKUs	StackWise-480	480 Gbps

3.Stacking Members

Q: How many 9000 switches can I stack?

Catalyst 9200:

Mixed stacking is not supported. You cannot stack fixed (C9200L SKUs) with modular (C9200 SKUs) models, or other Catalyst switches, e.g. Cisco Catalyst 2960-X and 2960-XR Series.

(See Catalyst 9200 Models>>>)

Catalyst 9300:

The Cisco Catalyst 9300 Series supports the industry’s highest back-panel stacking bandwidth solution (480 Gbps) with StackWise-480. Up to 8 Switches can be configured in a Stackwise-480 with the special connector at the back of the switch using dedicated stack cables.

(See Catalyst 9300 Models>>>)

Catalyst 9500:

Catalyst 9500 supports StackWise virtual technology so that they don’t need stack module or stack cable. Just connect between Catalyst 9500 switches will get the stacking function.

(See Catalyst 9500 Models>>>)

4.Stacking Accessories

Q: What Stacking Accessories should I need when stacking Catalyst 9000 switches?

A: Table 2 shows the stacking accessories.

Category	Model	Description
C9200 SKUs C9200L SKUs	C9200-STACK-KIT=	Stack kit for C9200 SKUs only: Two data stack adapters and one data stack cable
	C9200L-STACK-KIT=	Stack kit for C9200L SKUs only: Two data stack adapters and one data stack cable
	STACK-T4-50CM	Data stack 50 cm cable (default cable with Stack Kit)
	STACK-T4-1M	Data stack 1 m cable
	STACK-T4-3M	Data stack 3 m cable
C9300 SKUs	STACK-T1-50CM=	Cisco StackWise-480 50cm stacking cable spare
	STACK-T1-1M=	Cisco StackWise-480 1m stacking cable spare
	STACK-T1-3M=	Cisco StackWise-480 3m stacking cable spare

5.Cisco StackWise Virtual

Q: How can I Configure Cisco StackWise Virtual Link in Catalyst 9500 switches?

Cisco StackWise Virtual combines the two switches into a single logical switch with a large number of ports, offering a single point of management. One of the member switches is the control and management plane master, while the other one is the standby.

Depending on the switch model, SVL is supported on all 10G interfaces and 40G interfaces of the Cisco Catalyst 9500 Series switches and on all the 100G, 40G, 25G and 10G interfaces of the Cisco Catalyst 9500 Series High Performance switches. However, a combination of different interface speeds is not supported.

To configure a switch port as an SVL port, perform the following procedure:

	Command or Action	Purpose
Step 1	enable Example: Device>enable	Enables privileged EXEC mode. • Enter your password if prompted.
Step 2	configure terminal Example: Device#configure terminal	Enters global configuration mode.
Step 3	Perform one the of the following depending on the switch that you are configuring. • If you are configuring a Cisco Catalyst 9500 Series Switch, use interface {Ten Gigabit Ethernet\|Forty Gigabit Ethernet}<interface> • If you are configuring a Cisco Catalyst 9500 Series High Performance Switch, use interface {Hundred GigE \|Forty Gigabit Ethernet \|Twenty Five GigE}<interface> Example: Device(config)#interface TenGigabitEthernet1/0/2	Enters ethernet interface configuration mode.
Step 4	stackwise-virtual link link value Example: Device(config-if)#stackwise-virtual link 1	Associates the interface with configured SVL.
Step 5	end Example: Device(config-if)#end	Returns to privileged EXEC mode.
Step 6	write memory Example: Device#write memory	Saves the running-configuration which resides in the system RAM to the startup-configuration in the system NVRAM. If you do not save the changes, the changes will no longer be part of the startup configuration when the switch reloads.
Step 7	reload Example: Device#reload	Restarts the switch. Note When converting a Cisco Catalyst 9500 Series High Performance switch from standalone mode to SVL mode for the first time, one of the switches boots up or resets, for resolving the switch number conflict and sets the SWITCH_NUMBER environment variable to 2. The following message appears on the console prompt indicating this: Waiting for remote chassis to join ####################### Chassis number is 2 All chassis in the stack have been discovered. Accelerating discovery Chassis is reloading, reason: Configured Switch num conflicts with peer, Changing local switch number to 2 and reloading to take effect.