Turn a current 8 switch stack to 4x 2 switch stacks

[TROB82]

Morning all,

I have a task of reconfiguring an existing 8 switch stack into 4x 2 switch stack the current building has been closed for safety reasons and the switches have been physically removed from cabinets. So i need to dissolve this stack and create the 4 new stacks to be distributed into 4 porter-cabin offices on the same site.

Does anyone have any advise on how this should be done? what existing config should i be sure to get from the existing stack?

What process should I follow ?

Any advise would be greatly received.

[Brash]

Your best bet is to delete the stack, recable and build new stacks.

From a config perspective, not sure what you mean about getting the existing config.

I can't recall whether deleting the switches from the stack factory resets them or whether you need to do that manually to clear the old config.

[DarrenOC]

i believe that when the switches are removed from the stack they keep their switch port config.....i think.....

[TROB82]

Thank you for the response. when it comes to setting up the 4 new stacks can this be all done under the same network within the dashboard. Basically would there be issues creating multiple stacks under the same network. And in theory as the vlans etc will be configured for the current 8 switch stack would this config remain leaving me just to configure the ports on the new stacks with which vlan is needed depending on the end device.

Thanks again

[DarrenOC]

hi @TROB82 - couple of things you could do here:

 - note down all the existing important config like you've pointed out i.e your VLAN's, DHCP settings etc

 - From your existing 8 switch stack remove 6 of those devices from the stack leaving 2 remaining.  This stack will retain all your VLAN configuration and could be used as your core.

 - on the dashboard now you'll have the option to build new stacks with the remaining 6 switches.

There is no issue with configuring multiple switches in the same network. Don't forget your STP config as you'll need to set the STP priority of your STP bridge/Core.

[TROB82]

Hi, Thank you.

So I believe the site will already have a core switch and there will be a link to cabin one. so this will be the cabin i will put the 2 switches from the legacy stack of 8 in as you suggested which is a great idea. Would I need to still factory reset these 2 switches of just remove the config from each port? 

There will then be a link from cabin A to cabin B then B to C and then C to D what would your suggestion be for STP in this scenario as it is not really my area unfortunately.

Do you have any other advise for this scenario. i presume the vlans would be still in the dashboard so all i would need to do is select the vlans on each port on the switches or will there be any other things I should have been worried about?

Thank you again for everything

[DarrenOC]

hi @TROB82 - by the sounds of it the switches have been physically removed from their existing locations and you're essentially starting from scratch with a new (ish) deployment.

With regards configuration - i'm assuming everything is being re-cabled due to the switches being relocated into portacabins so again you're starting from scratch.