HP 5500 Ei 5500 Si Switch Series Installation Guide

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Enter  0 at the prompt. The system reboots in full startu p mode and displays the following information: 
Starting...... 
 
 
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*    HP A5500-24G-SFP EI Switch with 2 Interface Slots BOOTROM, Version \
604    * 
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       * 
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            Copyright (c) 2010-2011 Hewlett-Packard Development Compan\
y, L.P. 
            Creation date   : Feb 18 2011, 17:01:57 
            CPU Clock Speed : 533MHz 
            BUS Clock Speed : 133MHz 
            Memory Size     : 256MB 
            Mac Address     : 00e0fc005502 
 
 
Press Ctrl-B to enter Boot Menu... 5 
In full startup mode, you must press Ctrl + B within five seconds to access the Boot menu. If you don’t do 
anything or press any key other than  Ctrl + B within five seconds, the syst em automatically starts up and 
displays the following information: 
Auto-booting... 
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...........................................OK! 
 
 
            Board checking.......................LSP2LTSUA 
            SDRAM fast selftest........................OK! 
            Flash fast selftest........................OK! 
            CPLD selftest..............................OK! 
            Switch chip selftest.......................OK! 
            PHY selftest...............................OK! 
            Subslot 1 (LSP2CX2P) selftest..............OK! 
            Please check leds....................FINISHED!  
						

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User interface aux0 is available. 
 
 
 
Press ENTER to get started. 
Press  Enter at the prompt, and you can configure the switch when the prompt  appears. 
For more information about the configuration comm ands and CLI, see the configuration guides and 
command references for your switch. 
  
						

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Setting up an IRF fabric 
You can use HP IRF technology to connect and virtualize A5500 EI switches or A5500 SI switches into a 
virtual switch called an “IRF fabric” or “IRF virt ual device” for flattened network topology, and high 
availability, scalabili ty, and manageability. 
An IRF fabric cannot have both A5500 EI and A5500 SI switches. 
IRF fabric setup flowchart 
Figure 31  IRF fabric setup flowchart 
 
To set up an IRF fabric:  
						

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Step Description
1.  Plan IRF fabric setup  Plan the installation site and IRF fabric setup parameters: 
•
 Planning IRF fabric size and the installation site 
• Identifying the master switch and planning IRF member IDs 
• Planning IRF topology and connections 
• Identifying physical IRF ports on the member switches 
• Planning the cabling scheme  
2.   Install IRF member 
switches  See ”
Installing the switch in a 19-inch rack ” a nd “Mounting the switch on a 
workbench .” 
3.  Connect the grounding 
cable, power supplies 
(optional), and power 
cords   See “
Grounding the switch ” a nd “Connecting the power cord .” 
If a
n A5500-24G-SFP EI (2 slots) or A5500-24G-SFP EI TAA (2 slots) switch 
is used, also see “ Installing/removing a power supply.”  
4.  Power on the switches 
N/A 
5.  Install interface cards  
See “Installing/removing an interface card .” 
6.  Configure basic IRF 
settings  See “
Configuring basic IRF settings .” 
7.  Connect the physical IRF 
ports  See “
Connecting the physical IRF ports .” 
All switches except the master swit ch automat
ically reboot, and the IRF 
fabric is established. 
 
Planning IRF fabric setup 
Planning IRF fabric size and the installation site 
Choose switch models and identify the number of re quired IRF member switches, depending on the user 
density and upstream bandwidth requirements. The swit ching capacity of an IRF fabric equals the total 
switching capacities of all member switches.  
 
  NOTE: 
As your business grows, you can plug a switch into an IRF fabric to increase the switching capacity 
without any topology change or replacement.  
Identifying the master switch and planning IRF member IDs 
Determine which switch you want to use as the master for managing all member switches in the IRF 
fabric. An IRF fabric has only one  master switch. You configure and manage all member switches in the 
IRF fabric at the command line interface of the master switch. 
IRF member switches will automatically elect a master.  You can affect the election result by assigning a 
high member priority to the intended master switch. For more information about master election, see  HP 
A5500 EI & A5500 SI Switch Series IRF Configuration Guide . 
Prepare an IRF member ID assignment scheme. An IRF  fabric uses member IDs to uniquely identify and 
manage its members, and you must assign ea ch IRF member switch a unique member ID.  
						

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Planning IRF topology and connections 
You can create an IRF fabric in daisy chain topology,  or more reliably, ring topology. 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. 
You connect the IRF member switches through IRF ports.  An IRF port is a logical interface for the internal 
connection between IRF member switches. Each IRF me mber switch has two IRF ports: IRF-port 1 and IRF-
port 2. To use an IRF port, you mu st bind physical ports to it.  
When connecting two neighboring IRF member switches,  you must connect the physical ports of IRF-port 
1 on one switch to the physical port s of IRF-port 2 on the other switch. 
You can bind several physical ports to an IRF port  to create an aggregate IRF link for increased 
bandwidth and availability.  
Figure 32  and Figure 33  s
 how the topologies of an IRF fabric made up of three A5500 EI or A5500 SI 
switches. The IRF port connections in the two figures are for illustration only, and more connection 
methods are available. 
Figure 32  IRF fabric in daisy chain topology 
 
 
Figure 33  IRF fabric in ring topology 
 
  
						

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Identifying physical IRF ports on the member switches  
 IMPORTANT: 
All the switches in a ring topology and the non-edge switches in a daisy chain topology must have at 
least one two-port interface card or two one-port interface cards.  
 
Only the 10-GE ports on the IRF-c apable interface cards listed in “Interface cards” can provide IRF 
conn
ections for the A5500 EI and A5500 SI switches. To use the IRF feature, you must order the cards 
separately.  
Planning the cabling scheme 
When you plan the cabling scheme, follow these guidelines: 
•   Ports assigned to the same IRF port must be on the same interface card. 
•   For long-distance connections, use XFP or SFP+ tr ansceiver modules and fibers. For short-distance 
connections, use CX4 or SFP+ cables. For more information, see “ Interface cards“ and 
“ SFP/SFP+/XFP transceiver mo du
 les and SFP+/CX4 cables.” 
•   If 2-port interface cards are used and the IRF links are not aggregate: 
{ You can connect the interface card in slot 1 (M OD 1) on a member switch to the MOD 1 or 
MOD 2 card on its neighboring switch.  
{  Connect the left port on one interface card to the right port on the other interface card, as 
shown in  Figure 34 .  
Figure 34  Using 2-port interface cards to set up sing

le-link IRF connection 
MOD1MOD2 MOD2
MOD1
12 
•   If 2-port interface cards are used and IRF links are aggregate:  
{ Connect the interface card MOD 1 on one switch  to the interface card MOD 2 on the other 
switch.  
{  A port on one interface card can connect to any  port on the other interface card, as shown in 
Figure 35. Fo
 r example, you can connect the left port on one interface card to the left or right 
port on the other interface card.  
						

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Figure 35  Use 2-port interface cards to set up multi-link IRF connection 
 
•   If both of the neighboring switches use 1-port in terface cards, the port on MOD 1 on one switch 
must connect to the port on MOD 2 on the other switch (see callout 1 in  Figure 36).  
•   If one switc

h uses a 1-port interface card but  the other switch uses a 2-port interface card:  
{ If the 1-port interface card is in the MOD 1 slot , the port on the card must connect to the right 
port on the 2-port interface card (see callout 2 in  Figure 36.) 
{ If the 1-port interface card is in the MOD 2 slot, the port on the card must connect to the left 
port on the 2-port interface card.  
Figure 36  Cable connections for an IRF fabric with 1-port interface cards 
 
Configuring basic IRF settings 
After you install the IRF member switches, power on th e switches, and log in to each IRF member switch 
(see  HP A5500 EI & A5500 SI Switch Series Fundamentals Configuration Guide ) to configure their 
member IDs, member prioriti es, and IRF port bindings. 
Follow these guidelines when you configure the switches: 
•   Assign the master switch higher memb er priority than any other switch. 
•   Bind physical ports to IRF port 1 on one switch and to IRF port 2 on the other switch.  
•   Execute the  irf-port-configuration active  command to activate the IRF port configuration. 
•   Execute the  display irf configuration  command to verify the basic IRF settings.  
						

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For more information about configuring basic IRF settings, see  HP A5500 EI & A5500 SI Switch Series 
IRF Configuration Guide . 
Connecting the physical IRF ports 
Wear an ESD-preventive wrist strap when you connect the physical IR F ports. For how to connect them, 
see Pluggable SFP/SFP+/XFP Transcei ver Modules Installation Guide. 
Connect the IRF member switches as planned in “ Setting up an IRF fabric”. 
Accessing the IRF fabric to verify the configuration 
When you are finished configuring basic IRF settin gs and connecting IRF ports, follow these steps to 
verify the basic functionality of the IRF fabric: 
1.  Log in to the IRF fabric through the  console port of any member switch. 
2. Create a Layer 3 interface, assign it an IP addr ess, and make sure that the IRF fabric and the 
remote network management station can reach each other. 
3.  Use Telnet, web, or SNMP to access the IRF f abric from the network management station.  
See  HP A5500 EI & A5500 SI Switch Seri es Fundamentals Configuration Guide. 
4. Check that you can manage all member  switches as if they were one node. 
5. Display the running status of the IRF fabric by using the commands in  Table 10. 
Table 10  Displaying and maintaining IRF configuration and runni
ng status 
To do …  Use the command…
Display information about the IRF fabric 
display irf 
Display all members’ configurations that take 
effect after switch reboots  display irf configuration 
Display topology information about the IRF 
fabric display irf topology 
 
 
NOTE: 
To avoid IP address collision and  network problems, configure at least one MAD mechanism to detect 
the presence of multiple identical IRF fabrics and handle collisions. For more information about MAD 
detection, see the 
HP A5500 EI & A5500 SI Switch Series IRF Configuration Guide.  
  
						

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Maintenance and troubleshooting 
Password loss 
Console login password loss 
If you forget the console login password, access the Boot menu: 
       BOOT  MENU 
 
1. Download application file to flash 
2. Select application file to boot 
3. Display all files in flash 
4. Delete file from flash 
5. Modify bootrom password 
6. Enter bootrom upgrade menu 
7. Skip current configuration file 
8. Set bootrom password recovery 
9. Set switch startup mode 
0. Reboot 
 
Enter your choice(0-9): 
Enter 7 and restart the switch. The switch reboots with  empty configuration, and you can log in through 
the console port without entering the password to ch eck the configuration file for the user password. 
Boot ROM password loss 
Contact HP for help. 
Power supply failure 
Fixed power supply failure 
Except the A5500-24G-SFP EI (2 slots) and A5500-24G- SFP EI TAA (2 slots) switches, all A5500 EI and 
A5500 SI switches use fixed power supplies and suppo rt three input modes: AC input, RPS DC input, 
and concurrent AC and RPS DC inputs.  
You can look at the system status LED and the RPS status  LED on the front panel of the switch to identify a 
power failure. For more information, see “ LEDs.”   
						

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AC input 
If the system status LED is off, an AC input failure has occurred. Verify the following items: 
•   The AC power cord is securely co nnected to the switch, and the AC-input power receptacle on the 
switch and the connected AC power outlet are in good condition.  
•   The external AC power system is correctly working.  
•   The operating temperature of the switch is in th e normal range, and the power module has good 
ventilation. Over-temperature can cause the power  module to stop working and enter the protection 
state. 
RPS DC input 
If the system status LED or RPS status LED is off,  an RPS input failure has occurred. Verify the following 
items: 
•   The switch is securely connected to the RPS.  
•   The RPS is correctly working.  
•   The operating temperature of the switch is in  the normal range, and the power supply has good 
ventilation. Over-temperature can cause the power supply to stop working an d enter the protection 
state). 
Concurrent RPS and AC inputs 
1.  If the system status LED is off, the AC power  supply and the RPS both have an input failure. 
Verify the following items:  
{  The AC power cord is securely connected to th e switch, and the AC-input power receptacle on 
the switch and the connected AC power outlet are in good condition.  
{  The external AC power system is correctly working.  
{ The switch is securely connected to the RPS.  
{ The RPS is correctly working.  
{ The operating temperature of the switch is in  the normal range, and the power supply has good 
ventilation. Over-temperature can cause the  power supply to stop working and enter the 
protection state.  
2.  If the system status LED is on but the RPS status LED is steady yellow, an AC input failure has 
occurred.  
Verify the following items:  
{  The AC power cord is securely connected to th e switch, and the AC-input power receptacle on 
the switch and the connected AC power outlet are in good condition. 
{  The external AC power system is correctly working.  
3. If the system status LED is on but the RPS status LED is off, an RPS input failure has occurred.  
Verify the following items: 
{  The switch is securely connected to the RPS.  
{ The RPS is correctly working.   
  NOTE: 
If the problem persists, contact HP for help.