HP Officejet Pro 7500 Series User manual

HP 7500 Switch Series
IRF
Configuration Guide
Part number: 5998-1865
Software version: Release 6701 and later
Document version: 6W102-20130226

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Contents
IRF overview ································································································································································· 1
Hardware compatibility····················································································································································1
Chassis compatibility ···············································································································································1
Card compatibility····················································································································································1
Hardware compatibility for a three-/four-chassis IRF fabric················································································1
IRF benefits·········································································································································································1
Application scenario·························································································································································2
Basic concepts···································································································································································2
Operating mode·······················································································································································4
IRF member roles ······················································································································································4
IRF member ID···························································································································································5
MPU roles··································································································································································5
IRF port ······································································································································································5
Physical IRF port ·······················································································································································5
IRF domain ID ···························································································································································5
IRF split ······································································································································································6
IRF merge ··································································································································································6
Member priority························································································································································7
Master election··································································································································································7
IRF multi-active detection ··················································································································································7
Multi-active handling procedure ·····························································································································7
LACP MAD ································································································································································8
BFD MAD ··································································································································································9
Configuring IRF···························································································································································11
General restrictions and configuration guidelines······································································································ 11
Software requirements ·········································································································································· 11
MPU and IRF physical port restrictions················································································································ 11
IRF link redundancy··············································································································································· 11
MAD ······································································································································································· 11
FIPS mode requirement ········································································································································· 12
Feature compatibility············································································································································· 12
Other configuration guidelines ···························································································································· 12
Setup and configuration task list ·································································································································· 12
Planning the IRF fabric setup········································································································································· 13
Preconfiguring IRF member switches in standalone mode························································································· 13
Assigning a member ID to each IRF member switch ························································································· 14
Specifying a priority for each member switch ··································································································· 14
Binding physical ports to IRF ports ······················································································································ 14
Saving configuration to the next-startup configuration file ························································································ 15
Connecting physical IRF ports······································································································································· 16
Setting the operating mode to IRF mode ····················································································································· 17
Accessing the IRF fabric ················································································································································ 18
Accessing the global active MPU of the IRF fabric···························································································· 18
Accessing a standby MPU in the IRF fabric········································································································ 18
Configuring IRF member switches in IRF mode··········································································································· 19
Assigning an IRF domain ID to the IRF fabric····································································································· 19
Changing the member ID of a switch ················································································································· 19
Changing the priority of a member switch········································································································· 20
i

ii
Adding physical ports to an IRF port··················································································································· 21
Enabling auto reboot for IRF fabric merge ········································································································· 22
Configuring a member switch description·········································································································· 22
Configuring IRF link load sharing mode ············································································································· 22
Configuring IRF bridge MAC persistence··········································································································· 23
Enabling software auto-update for system software image synchronization ·················································· 24
Setting the IRF link down report delay ················································································································ 25
Improving interface card availability in a four-chassis 7506 or 7506-V IRF fabric ······································ 25
Configuring MAD·················································································································································· 26
Fast-restoring IRF configuration for a one-MPU member···························································································· 31
Displaying and maintaining an IRF fabric··················································································································· 32
Configuration examples ················································································································································ 32
LACP MAD-enabled IRF configuration example for a two-chassis IRF fabric·················································· 32
BFD MAD-enabled IRF configuration example for a two-chassis IRF fabric···················································· 36
LACP MAD-enabled IRF configuration example for a four-chassis IRF fabric ················································· 40
BFD MAD-enabled IRF configuration example for a four-chassis IRF fabric ··················································· 45
Restoring standalone mode·································································································································· 50
Support and other resources ·····································································································································53
Contacting HP ································································································································································ 53
Subscription service ·············································································································································· 53
Related information························································································································································ 53
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Websites································································································································································· 53
Conventions ···································································································································································· 54
Index ···········································································································································································56

1
IRF overview
The HP Intelligent Resilient Framework (IRF) technology creates a large IRF fabric from multiple switches
to provide data center class availability and scalability. IRF virtualization technology offers processing
power, interaction, unified management, and uninterrupted maintenance of multiple switches.
This book describes IRF concepts and guides you through the IRF setup procedure.
Hardware compatibility
This section describes the IRF and hardware compatibility.
Chassis compatibility
•Among the 7500 Switch Series, these models support IRF: 7503, 7506, 7506-V, and 7510.
•The 7500 switches in an IRF fabric must be the same model.
•A 7510 IRF fabric can have only up to two chassis. Other models can form four-chassis IRF fabrics.
•If the LSQ1SRP1CB MPU is used, a 7510 switch cannot join an IRF fabric.
Card compatibility
The MPUs in an IRF member switch must be the same model. A good practice is to use the same model
of MPUs in all IRF member switches.
Hardware compatibility for a three-/four-chassis IRF fabric
The following cards can be used only in IRF fabrics that are formed by up to two members:
•SA cards
•LSQ1SRP1CB MPUs
IRF benefits
IRF provides the following benefits:
•Simplified topology and easy management—An IRF fabric appears as one node and is accessible
at a single IP address on the network. You can use this IP address to log in at any member device
to manage all the members of the IRF fabric. In addition, you do not need to run the spanning tree
feature among the IRF members.
•1:N redundancy—In an IRF fabric, one member works as the master to manage and control the
entire IRF fabric, and all the other members process services while backing up the master. When the
master fails, all the other member devices elect a new master from among them to take over without
interrupting services.
•IRF link aggregation—You can assign several physical links between neighboring members to their
IRF ports to create a load-balanced aggregate IRF connection with redundancy.

2
•Multiple-chassis link aggregation—You can use the Ethernet link aggregation feature to aggregate
the physical links between the IRF fabric and its upstream or downstream devices across the IRF
members.
•Network scalability and resiliency—Processing capacity of an IRF fabric equals the total
processing capacities of all the members. You can increase ports, network bandwidth, and
processing capacity of an IRF fabric simply by adding member devices without changing the
network topology.
Application scenario
Figure 1 shows an IRF fabric that is formed by two switches, which appear as a single node to the upper
and lower layer devices.
Figure 1 IRF application scenario
Basic concepts
This section uses Figure 2 to describe the basic concepts that you might encounter when working with IRF.

3
Figure 2 Two-chassis IRF fabric implementation schematic diagram
IRF link
An IRF fabric
is formed.
Master
(MemberID=1)
Subordinate
(MemberID=2)
Active MPU
Device A
(MemberID=1) Device B
(MemberID=2)
XGE1/3/0/1
Physical IRF
port
XGE2/3/0/1
Physical IRF
port
IRF-port 2 IRF-port 1
Service
interface
Service
interface
IRF
Standby MPU
Active MPU
Standby MPU
IRF’s Active MPU
IRF’s standby MPU
IRF’s standby MPU
IRF’s standby MPU
In this figure, Device A and Device B form a two-member IRF fabric that has four MPUs (one active and
three standbys) and two times the number of interface cards that a single device provides. The IRF fabric
manages the physical and software resources of Device A and Device B in a centralized manner.
You can scale this two-chassis IRF fabric to a four-chassis IRF fabric for higher port density and
availability, as shown in Figure 3.

4
Figure 3 Four-chassis IRF fabric implementation schematic diagram
IRF link
IRF is
formed.
Master
Subordinate
IRF physical
ports IRF physical
ports
IRF-port2 IRF-port 1
Network
interfaces
Network
interfaces
IRF
Global active MPU
Global standby MPU
Global standby MPU
Global standby MPU
Active MPU
Device A Device B
( Member ID=2 )
IRF-port 2
IRF-port 2
Network
interfaces
Network
interfaces
Standby MPU
Active MPU
Standby MPU
IRF-port1
IRF physical
ports
IRF physical
ports
Active MPU
Standby MPU
Device C Device D
Active MPU
Standby MPU
IRF-port 1
IRF-port 2
IRF-port1
Subordinate
Global standby MPU
Global standby MPU
Subordinate
Global standby MPU
Global standby MPU
( Member ID=4 )
( Member ID=1 )
( Member ID=3 )
( Member ID=2 )( Member ID=1 )
( Member ID=3 ) ( Member ID=4 )
Operating mode
A switch operates in one of the following modes:
•Standalone mode—The switch cannot form an IRF fabric with other switches.
•IRF mode—The switch can form an IRF fabric with other switches.
IRF member roles
IRF uses two member roles: master and slave (called "subordinate").
When switches form an IRF fabric, they elect a master to manage the IRF fabric, and all other switches
back up the master. When the master switch fails, the other switches automatically elect a new master
from among them to take over. For more information about master election, see "Master election."

5
IRF member ID
An IRF fabric uses member IDs to uniquely identify and manage its members. This member ID information
is included as the first part of interface numbers and file paths to uniquely identify interfaces and files in
an IRF fabric. For example, after you assign a switch with member ID 2 to an IRF fabric, the name of
interface GigabitEthernet 3/0/1 changes to GigabitEthernet 2/3/0/1, and the file path
slot1#flash:/test.cfg changes to chassis2#slot1#flash:/test.cfg.
If two switches have the same IRF member ID, they cannot form an IRF fabric.
MPU roles
Each IRF member switch has one or two MPUs, which play different roles, as follows:
Role Descri
p
tion
Global active MPU Active MPU of the master switch. You configure and manage the entire IRF fabric
at the CLI of the global active MPU.
Local active MPU
The active MPU that manages the local switch. This MPU has the following
responsibilities:
•Manages the local switch, including synchronizing configuration between the
local active MPU and the local standby MPU, processing protocol packets,
and creating and maintaining route entries.
•Handles IRF related events, such as master election and topology collection.
Standby MPU
For the global active MPU, all other MPUs, including local active MPUs, are
standby MPUs.
If a member switch has two MPUs, the one backing up the local MPU is the local
standby MPU from the perspective of the member switch.
IRF port
An IRF port is a logical interface for the connection between IRF member devices. Every IRF-capable
device supports two IRF ports. In standalone mode, the IRF ports are named IRF-port 1 and IRF-port 2. In
IRF mode, the IRF ports are named IRF-port n/1 and IRF-port n/2, where nis the member ID of the switch.
The two IRF ports are referred to as "IRF-port 1" and "IRF-port 2" in this book for simplicity.
To use an IRF port, you must bind at least one physical port to it. The physical ports assigned to an IRF
port automatically form an aggregate IRF link. An IRF port goes down only if all its physical IRF ports are
down.
Physical IRF port
Physical IRF ports connect IRF member devices and must be bound to an IRF port. They forward the IRF
protocol packets between IRF member devices and the data packets that must travel across IRF member
devices.
All 10-GE and 40-GE ports on the switch can be used as IRF physical ports.
IRF domain ID
One IRF fabric forms one IRF domain. IRF uses IRF domain IDs to uniquely identify IRF fabrics and prevent
IRF fabrics from interfering with one another.

6
As shown in Figure 4, Switch A and Switch B form IRF fabric 1, and Switch C and Switch D form IRF fabric
2. The fabrics have LACP MAD detection links between them. When a member switch in one IRF fabric
receives an extended LACP packet for MAD detection, it looks at the domain ID in the packet to see
whether the packet is from the local IRF fabric or from a different IRF fabric. Then, the switch can handle
the packet correctly.
Figure 4 A network that comprises two IRF domains
IRF split
IRF split occurs when an IRF fabric breaks up into two or more IRF fabrics because of IRF link failures, as
shown in Figure 5. The split IRF fabrics operate with the same IP address and cause routing and
forwarding problems on the network.
Figure 5 IRF split
IRF merge
IRF merge occurs when two split IRF fabrics re-unite or when you configure and connect two independent
IRF fabrics to be one IRF fabric, as shown in Figure 6.

7
Figure 6 IRF merge
IRF link
XGE1/3/0/1 XGE2/3/0/1
Device A Device B
Device A Device B
IRF 1 IRF 2 IRF
+=
Member priority
Member priority determines the possibility of a member device to be elected the master. A member with
higher priority is more likely to be elected the master.
The default member priority is 1. You can change the member priority of a member device to affect the
master election result.
Master election
Master election is held each time the IRF fabric topology changes, for example, when the IRF fabric is
established, a new member device is plugged in, the master device fails or is removed, the IRF fabric
splits, or IRF fabrics merge.
Master election uses the following rules in descending order:
1. Current master, even if a new member has higher priority.
When an IRF fabric is being formed, all member switches consider themselves as the master, and
this rule is skipped.
2. Member with higher priority.
3. Member with the longest system uptime.
4. Member with the lowest member ID.
The IRF fabric is formed on election of the master.
During an IRF merge, the switches of the IRF fabric that fails the master election must reboot to re-join the
IRF fabric that wins the election. The reboot can be automatically performed or manually performed,
depending on the configuration. See "Enabling auto reboot for IRF fabric merge."
After a master election, all subordinate switches reboot with the configuration on the master. Their
original configuration, even if it has been saved, does not take effect.
IRF multi-active detection
An IRF link failure causes an IRF fabric to split in two IRF fabrics operating with the same Layer 3
configurations, including the same IP address. To avoid IP address collision and network problems, IRF
uses multi-active detection (MAD) mechanisms to detect the presence of multiple identical IRF fabrics,
handle collisions, and recover from faults.
Multi-active handling procedure
The multi-active handling procedure includes detection, collision handling and failure recovery.

8
Detection
The MAD implementation of this switch series detects active IRF fabrics with the same Layer 3 global
configuration by extending the LACP or BFD protocol.
These MAD mechanisms identify each IRF fabric with a domain ID and an active ID (the member ID of
the master). If multiple active IDs are detected in a domain, MAD determines that an IRF collision or split
has occurred.
You can use at least one of these mechanisms in an IRF fabric, depending on your network topology. For
a comparison of these MAD mechanisms, see "Configuring MAD."
Collision handling
When multiple identical active IRF fabrics are detected, MAD compares the member IDs of their masters.
If the master in one IRF fabric has the lowest member ID among all the masters, the members in the fabric
continue to operate in Active state and forward traffic. MAD sets all the other IRF fabrics in Recovery
(disabled) state and shuts down all their physical ports except the console ports, physical IRF ports, and
any ports you have specified with the mad exclude interface command.
Failure recovery
To merge two split IRF fabrics, first repair the failed IRF link and remove the IRF link failure.
If the IRF fabric in Recovery state fails before the failure is recovered, repair the failed IRF fabric and the
failed IRF link.
If the IRF fabric in Active state fails before the failure is recovered, first enable the IRF fabric in Recovery
state to take over the active IRF fabric and protect the services from being affected. After that, recover the
MAD failure.
LACP MAD
LACP MAD requires that every IRF member have a link with an intermediate device, and all these links
form a dynamic link aggregation group, as shown in Figure 7. In addition, the intermediate device must
be an HP device that supports extended LACP for MAD.
The IRF member switches send extended LACPDUs with TLVs that convey the domain ID and the active ID
of the IRF fabric. The intermediate device transparently forwards the extended LACPDUs received from
one member switch to all the other member switches:
•If the domain IDs and the active IDs in the extended LACPDUs sent by all the member devices are
the same, the IRF fabric is integrated.
•If the extended LACPDUs convey the same domain ID but different active IDs, a split has occurred.
To handle this situation, LACP MAD sets the IRF fabric with higher active ID in Recovery state, and
shuts down all its physical ports but the console port, IRF ports, and any ports you have specified
with the mad exclude interface command. The IRF fabric with lower active ID is still in Active state
and forwards traffic.

9
Figure 7 LACP MAD application scenario
BFD MAD
BFD MAD can work with or without intermediate devices. Figure 8 shows a typical BFD MAD application
scenario.
To use BFD MAD:
•Set up dedicated BFD MAD link between each pair of IRF members or between each IRF member
and the intermediate device. Do not use the BFD MAD links for any other purpose.
•Assign the ports connected by BFD MAD links to the same VLAN, create a VLAN interface for the
VLAN, and assign a MAD IP address to each member on the VLAN interface.
The MAD addresses identify the member switches and must belong to the same subnet.
•The IRF fabrics in a network must use different BFD MAD VLANs.
With BFD MAD, the master tries to establish BFD sessions with the other member switches by using its
MAD IP address as the source IP address:
•If the IRF fabric is integrated, only the MAD IP address of the master is effective, and the master
cannot establish a BFD session with any other member. If you perform the display bfd session
command, the state of the BFD sessions is Down.
•When the IRF fabric splits, the IP addresses of the masters in the split IRF fabrics take effect, and the
two masters can establish a BFD session. If you perform the display bfd session command, the state
of the BFD session between the two devices is Up.

10
Figure 8 BFD MAD application scenario
Device
Master Subordinate
IRF
Internet
Customer
premises
network
IRF link
Link aggregation
BFD MAD link
VLAN 2
192.168.1.2/24 VLAN 2
192.168.1.3/24

11
Configuring IRF
Read the configuration restrictions and guidelines carefully when you connect and set up an IRF fabric.
General restrictions and configuration guidelines
This section describes the IRF hardware restrictions and configuration guidelines you must follow.
Software requirements
All IRF member switches must run the same system software image version.
MPU and IRF physical port restrictions
•Make sure every IRF member has at least one MPU.
•Use 10-GE or 40-GE ports (on MPUs or LPUs) for IRF connections. HP recommends using ports on
LPUs first for IRF connections. For more information about LPUs that provide 10-GE or 40-GE ports,
see HP 7500 Switch Series Installation Guide.
•If you are using a 40-GE port on the LSQ1QGS4SC card for IRF connection, HP recommends
completing the port split or combination operation before adding the switch to an IRF fabric. As of
Release 6703, you can use the using tengige command or the using fortygige command to split
40-GE QSFP+ ports on SF cards into 10-GE ports or recombine 10-GE ports into 40-GE ports.
These operations require a card reboot. To perform these operations in an IRF fabric, make sure you
understand the impact on the IRF fabric topology. For more information about 40-GE port split and
combination operations, see Layer 2—LAN Switching Configuration Guide.
•When you connect two neighboring IRF members, connect the physical ports of IRF-port 1 on one
member to the physical ports of IRF-port 2 on the other.
•To use the MPLS L2VPN or VPLS function in an IRF fabric, you must use ports on the SD, EB,
LSQ1QGS4SC, or LSQ1QGC4SC card for IRF connection, and specify the mode enhanced option
when performing IRF port binding.
IRF link redundancy
•For link redundancy and load sharing, bind up to eight physical ports to one IRF port.
•Physical ports bound to an IRF port can be located on different cards.
MAD
•Configure at least one MAD mechanism for prompt detection and recovery of IRF partition.
•If LACP MAD runs between two IRF fabrics, assign each fabric a unique IRF domain ID. For BFD
MAD, this task is optional.
•To exclude a port from the shutdown action performed when an IRF fabric to the Recovery state, use
the mad exclude interface command. To bring up a port after the IRF fabric transits to the Recovery
state, you must use the mad restore command instead of the undo shutdown command to activate
the entire IRF fabric.

12
FIPS mode requirement
To form an IRF fabric, all member devices must use the same FIPS mode setting (configurable with the fips
mode enable command). The FIPS feature is available in Release 6708 and later versions. For more
information about FIPS mode, see Security Configuration Guide.
Feature compatibility
In IRF mode:
•The interval-value argument in the cfd cc interval interval-value command has a different value
range than in standalone mode. For more information about CFD commands, see High Availability
Command Reference.
•The switch does not support fast detection for an RRPP domain. For more information about RRPP,
see High Availability Configuration Guide.
Other configuration guidelines
•If a subordinate switch uses the same next-startup configuration file name as the master switch, the
file might be overwritten depending on your configuration file management settings. To continue to
use the configuration file after removing the switch from the IRF fabric, back up the file before setting
up the IRF fabric.
•Strictly follow the IRF fabric setup procedure described in "Setup and configuration task list" to plan
the IRF fabric, identify IRF physical ports, connect IRF member switches, and configure basic
settings.
•Assign each member a unique IRF member ID to make sure they can merge. You must reboot the
members to validate the IRF member ID settings.
•Assign the highest member priority to the device you want to use as the master.
•Save any configuration you have made to the startup configuration file before rebooting the IRF
member devices.
Setup and configuration task list
HP recommends the following IRF fabric setup and configuration procedure:
Task Remarks
1. Planning the IRF fabric setup Required.
2. Preconfiguring IRF member switches in standalone mode
{Assigning a member ID to each IRF member switch
{Specifying a priority for each member switch
{Binding physical ports to IRF ports
Required.
3. Saving configuration to the next-startup configuration file Required.
4. Connecting physical IRF ports
Required.
Make sure that they are
interoperable.
5. Setting the operating mode to IRF mode Required.

13
Task Remarks
6. Accessing the IRF fabric:
{Accessing the global active MPU of the IRF fabric
{Accessing a standby MPU in the IRF fabric
Login to the global active MPU is
required.
From the active MPU, you can log in
to a standby MPU to execute a
limited set of maintenance
commands.
7. Configuring IRF member switches in IRF mode:
{Assigning an IRF domain ID to the IRF fabric
{Changing the member ID of a switch
{Changing the priority of a member switch
{Adding physical ports to an IRF port
{Enabling auto reboot for IRF fabric merge
{Configuring a member switch description
{Configuring IRF link load sharing mode
{Configuring IRF bridge MAC persistence
{Enabling software auto-update for system software image
synchronization
{Setting the IRF link down report delay
{Improving interface card availability in a four-chassis 7506 or
7506-V IRF fabric
{Configuring MAD
All these tasks are optional.
If IRF ports have not been configured
when a member switch operating in
standalone mode, you must
configure its IRF ports.
CAUTION:
Changing member IDs in an IRF
fabric can void member ID-related
configuration and cause unexpected
problems. Before doing that, make
sure you understand the impact on
your live network.
8. Fast-restoring IRF configuration for a one-MPU member
Optional.
This task helps you fast-restore IRF
configuration for one-MPU members
before an MPU replacement.
Planning the IRF fabric setup
Consider the following items when you plan an IRF fabric:
•Hardware compatibility and restrictions
•IRF fabric size
•Master switch
•IRF physical ports
•Member ID and priority assignment scheme
•Fabric topology and cabling scheme
For more information about hardware and cabling, see the installation guide for the device.
Preconfiguring IRF member switches in standalone
mode
Perform the tasks in this section on every IRF member switch. These settings take effect on each member
switch after their operating mode changes to IRF.

14
Assigning a member ID to each IRF member switch
A switch by default operates in standalone mode without an IRF member ID. You must assign it a unique
IRF member ID before changing its operating mode to IRF.
The member ID assigned to a switch is saved in both active and standby MPUs of the switch. If the
standby MPU has a different member ID than the active MPU, for example, because of an MPU
replacement, the member ID in the active MPU takes effect and is automatically updated to the standby
MPU.
Execute the display irf configuration command and look at the MemberID field. If the switch has no IRF
member ID, the field displays two hyphens (--).
Configuration restrictions and guidelines
If the switch is installed with an LSQ1SRP1CB card, its member ID must be 1 or 2.
The member ID of a 7510 switch must be 1 or 3.
If the 7506 or 7506-V switch is assigned member ID 4, the card in slot 7 by default cannot work. To
resolve the problem for a four-chassis 7506 or 7506-V IRF fabric, use the irf-pbr disable command as
described in "Improving interface card availability in a four-chassis 7506 or 7506-V IRF fabric." If you
are setting a 7506 or 7506-V IRF fabric that has fewer members, do not assign member ID 4 to any
member switch.
Configuration procedure
To set a member ID for the switch in standalone mode:
Ste
p
Command Remarks
1. Enter system view. system-view N/A
2. Assign an IRF member ID to
the switch. irf member member-id By default, the switch has no IRF member ID.
Specifying a priority for each member switch
IRF member priority represents the possibility for a device to be elected the master in an IRF fabric. The
higher the priority, the higher the possibility.
To specify a priority for the switch:
Ste
p
Command Remarks
1. Enter system view. system-view N/A
2. Specify a priority for the
switch. irf priority priority The default IRF member priority is 1.
Binding physical ports to IRF ports
To establish an IRF connection, you must bind the physical ports that connect IRF member switches to IRF
ports. For link redundancy and load sharing, bind multiple physical ports to one IRF port.
In standalone mode, binding a physical port to an IRF port does not affect the current configuration of the
port. However, when the operating mode changes to IRF mode, the default configuration of the physical

15
IRF port restores, and you can only execute the shutdown, default, description, and flow-interval
commands on the physical port. For more information about these commands, see Layer 2—LAN
Switching Command Reference.
Configuration restrictions and guidelines
W
ARNING!
If you are using a 40-GE port on the LSQ1QGS4SC card for IRF connection, HP recommends completin
g
the port split or combination operation before addin
g
the switch to an IRF fabric. As of Release 6703, you
can use the using tengige command or the using fortygige command to split 40-GE QSFP+ ports into
10-GE ports or recombine 10-GE ports into 40-GE ports. These operations require a card reboot and
might cause an IRF fabric topology change.
Make sure the IRF physical ports are operating as Layer 2 interfaces. Layer 3 interfaces cannot be bound
to IRF ports. To configure a physical port as a Layer 2 or Layer 3 interface, use the port link-mode
{ bridge | route } command (see Layer 2—LAN Switching Configuration Guide).
When you bind physical ports to an IRF port, set all the physical ports to operate in the same mode:
normal or enhanced. If you do not specify a mode, the normal mode applies.
SC cards do not support the enhanced mode for physical IRF ports, but the LSQ1TGS8SC,
LSQ1QGS4SC and LSQ1QGC4SC cards support.
To use the MPLS L2VPN or VPLS function in an IRF fabric, use ports on the SD, EB, LSQ1QGS4SC, or
LSQ1QGC4SC card as physical IRF ports, and configure their operating mode as enhanced.
To use the MPLS L2VPN or VPLS function in an IRF fabric, you must use ports on the SD, EB,
LSQ1QGS4SC, or LSQ1QGC4SC card for IRF connection, and specify the mode enhanced option
when performing IRF port binding.
Configuration procedure
To bind physical ports to IRF ports:
Ste
p
Command Remarks
1. Enter system view. system-view N/A
2. Enter IRF port view. irf-port port-number N/A
3. Bind a physical IRF port to
the IRF port.
port group interface interface-type
interface-number [ mode { enhanced |
normal } ]
By default, no physical ports are
bound to any IRF port.
Repeat this step to assign more
physical ports to an IRF port.
Each IRF port can have up to
eight physical ports.
Saving configuration to the next-startup
configuration file
Save the running configuration before converting to the IRF mode. The mode change requires a reboot,
which can cause all settings that have not been saved to be lost.
Perform the following task in any view:

16
Task Command
Save the current configuration to
the next-startup configuration file. save [ safely ] [ force ]
Connecting physical IRF ports
When you connect two neighboring IRF members, connect the physical ports of IRF-port 1 on one
member to the physical ports of IRF-port 2 on the other, as shown in Figure 9.
Follow these guidelines on selecting transceiver modules and cables:
•Use XFP transceiver modules and fibers to connect XFP ports.
•Use SFP+ transceiver modules and fibers for long-distance connection, or use SFP+ cables to
connect SFP+ ports for short-distance connection.
•When connecting XFP or SFP+ ports, connect the transmit port of an XFP or SFP+ transceiver
module at one end to the receive port of a XFP or SFP+ transceiver module at the other end.
•Use QSFP+ transceiver modules and fibers for long-distance connection, or use QSFP+ cables to
connect QSFP+ ports for short-distance connection.
•The transceiver modules at the two ends of an IRF link must be the same type.
For more information about transceiver modules, see the switch installation guide.
IMPORTANT:
No intermediate devices are allowed between neighboring members.
Figure 9 Connecting IRF physical ports
Connect the switches into a daisy chain topology or a ring topology, which is more reliable (see Figure
10). In ring topology, the failure of one IRF link does not cause the IRF fabric to split as in daisy chain
topology. Rather, the IRF fabric changes to a daisy chain topology without interrupting network services.
To use the ring topology, you must have at least three member switches.