Ms425-16 Pair - Stack or warm spare

[Trixxz]

Hi all

We have a pair of 425-16s that we would like to use to replace an existing single core switch. Can anyone give me any tips on whether to stack these 2 or use warm spare. On both if you could detail cabling examples that would be great.

Am I correct in thinking with Warm spare I would need uplinks into both switches from each distribution switch?

[alemabrahao]

When using the Warm Spare setup, you would need uplinks into both switches from each distribution switch.

MS Warm Spare (VRRP) Overview - Cisco Meraki Documentation

Switch Stacks - Cisco Meraki Documentation

MS425 Series Installation Guide - Cisco Meraki Documentation

[DarrenOC]

Hi @Trixxz , I would keep the solution simple and just stack the ms pair.

For resilient links I would also patch each distribution switch into each core switch.

[Prestont]

Hello,

the main difference I find between for a warm spare or stacking would be how you want them to reboot on a firmware update.

On a switch stack the switches will all reboot at once. 

while with a warm spare I think you can do the firmware updates with a stagged update, so that during the update you can still have a switch up and working. Less down time. 

I have some MS425 on my ESXI Clusters and I like having them not stacked so I can have no downtime during a switch firmware update. you just have to make sure you have links for both switches to work when the other is offline. 

[Brash]

As stated above, stacking is simple and will make your life easier.

The downside of which is that during a firmware upgrade, the stack reboots as a whole resulting in a network outage for connected devices.

If that's feasible for your business to manage then IMO, stacking would be the way to go.