DUA1746_2AAA01.

fm Page 1 Monday, April 26, 2004 11:34 AM

SuperStack® 3 Switch 3870 Stacking Cable

(3C17462)
Installation Guide
Introducing the Stacking Cable Installing the Stacking Cable
The Stacking Cable enables you to stack together two Connect the Stacking Cable as shown in Figure 2.
switches, up to three rack units apart. You can stack any
combination of 3870 24 and 48 port switches, up to a max- Always secure the Stacking Cable to the device by tighten-
imum of eight units. ing its securing screws.
!
The Stacking Cable is 30 cm (11.8 in.) long and marked Figure 2 Connecting Switches in a Stack
with a yellow label for the Up and a blue label for the
Down D-Type connectors.

Only one switch in the stack can operate as the master

DOW

switch, all other switches operate in slave mode. If more N

UP

than one switch in the stack is selected as the master, or if

no switches are selected, the stack will not operate.
DOW

Figure 1 The Stacking Cable N

UP

Up Connector (Yellow Label)

DOW
N

Securing Screws UP

Down Connector (Blue Label)

DOW
N

UP
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Table 1 Attaching the Cable Between Two Switches Table 2 below shows how to read the status of the stack
according to the stack LEDs on the front of the Switch.
Connector Label Color Attach to the:
Yellow Up port in the back panel of the top Switch Table 2 Stack LEDs
Blue Down port in the back panel of the bottom Color State:
Switch
Status

Green The Uplink/Downlink is operating normally.

LEDs
Yellow One-sided connection (one side of the cable is connected
The stack LEDs are located on the front panel of the Switch but the other side is not).
as shown in Figure 3:
Off No stacking link is present.
Figure 3 Switch Front Panel - Stack LEDs Master

Stack Status/ Green Master unit - normal stack operation state

Stack Master LEDs
Yellow Slave unit - normal stack operation state.

Yellow flashing The system is in arbitration/election state.

Fault Power
Stack S
Off The system is not stacked.
Master
Module P S
Activity SuperStack 3 Switch 3870 24-port

21 22 23 24

© 3Com Technologies, 2004. All rights reserved. No part of this documentation may be reproduced in
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3Com, the 3Com logo and SuperStack are registered trademarks of 3Com Corporation. Unless
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not be registered in other countries.
Part No. DUA1746-2AAA01 Published May 2004