Not enough ports...what are the options?

[siewwei2004]

Hi there,

I would like to add more ports to my current 6509 switch. I was thinking of buying a new switch and then connect it to the existing switch through fiber cable.

Can I just buy a new 6509 chassis and put only a fiber module and 5 other port modules in it without having to buy a Sup module? This is because my current switch has a Sup module already. Will this work?

Thanks.

[leonvd79]

No you cannot, you'll need a supervisor for every other chassis that you want to deploy.

Have you considered replacing higher port density blades or is the switch maxed-out?

You can also condsider upgrading the chassis to a 6513.

HTH

--Leon

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[siewwei2004]

Hi Leon,

Thanks for your reply. May I know the reason why I need the Sup module for my new chassis? Can't I just connect my new switch to my current one using Fiber channel? Upgrading the current chassis is not really an option since I do not have space (vertically) for that.

[globalnettech]

Hello,

the supervisor engine controls the cards in the chassis, that is, without the supervisor engine, the cards do not function, that is why you need the supervisors in the chassis. The idea behind having the supervisors installed as a separate module is to offer different versions and functionality, as well as an upgrade path that doesn't require you to upgrade the entire switch.

Does that make sense ?

Regards,

GNT

[leonvd79]

The blades connect into a backplane, the backplane needs to have a physical connection to the supervisor.

The supervisor is the switch processor and cannot be placed outside of the chassis as it will have no connection to control the dataplane.

I have no idea how your current switch is configured. If it functions as a core, distribution of a combination of both and you have servers directly attached to your switch you can place them on a separate switch for instance. There are many options to mitigate capacity problems, however chassis without supervisor is not an option.

Best of luck.

--Leon

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[siewwei2004]

Hi Leon,

I am not sure what's the definition for "core" and "distribution" but my current switch connects my room LAN to the campus LAN. I have my own DHCP server and thus the current switch is able to provide IP addresses.

[minimintu]

i think its better to use Cisco Catalyst 6500 96-Port Patch Panel instead of buying new switch.this patch panel will surely serve the purpose. This patch panel can be used with the 6509 switch.check it out

[Wilson Samuel]

Hi,

I guess, I can make it clear that, a 6509 chsis without Sup is something like having a Network Module of a router without the Router, as the chasis is just a plain box with Power Supplies and thats it!

The Supervisor Enginer for any switch is something like all the core important things like CPU, Memor, Flash, IOS etc etc. and the Modules / Blades are more or less specialized ASICs like that of WIC-1T who specialize in only the aspect its designed for.

Where as the Sup, controls everything as it only contains the CPU, RAM and other core peripherals.

Finally, whether to buy a Blade or an Extra Switch would entirely depend upon the Traffic conditions that you have.

Regards,

Wilson Samuel