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Q: What kind of serial cable is delivered with the switch?
The same serial (console) cable used with the ProCurve 9300m Routing Switches is shipped with the 9408sl: a straight-through, 9-pin to 9-pin, female/female.
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Q: Do the 9408sl interfaces support Power over Ethernet (PoE)?
No, PoE is considered an "edge" function, so as a "core" box the 9408sl doesn't have PoE built in. PoE can always be added to a 9408sl port with a "Power over Ethernet mid-span" (external) power unit. More often, the 9408sl will be connected to a ProCurve Power over Ethernet edge switch (for example, the ProCurve Switch 2650-PWR), which then provides PoE to end devices.
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Q: When an interface module is being hot swapped, do all the other modules continue passing traffic?
Yes. Only the removed module is affected when an interface module is removed.
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Q: Does the air filter need to be maintained?
Air filter maintenance is accomplished through periodic replacement. ProCurve recommends replacing the air filter every 6 months. A new air filter (part #J8680-80004) can be ordered from the HP Parts Store (Online Shopping) webpage (www.hp.com/buy/parts).
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Q: Why is the oversubscription value for the 60-port 10/100/1000-T module 2:1?
While all other 9408sl interface modules have 4 FPGAs (1 FPGA for each 10-GbE port, or 1 FPGA for each set of ten 1-Gigabit ports), the 60-port module has only 3 FPGAs. Therefore, each FPGA on the 60-port module supports twenty ports, which gives 2:1 oversubscription. All 9408sl interface modules other than the 60-port module are fully wirespeed.
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Q: Are the PCMCIA cards proprietary?
No. The 9408sl management module accepts standard PCMCIA cards that can be purchased at a local computer store. If they are formatted for a "16 FAT" file system, they're ready to use in the 9408sl. Also, there is a command to format the PCMCIA card while it is in the management module.
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Q: What size PCMCIA card is recommended?
The full set of software files requires 41MB of storage. In order to hold 2 sets of software files plus configuration and other backup files, ProCurve recommends purchasing PCMCIA cards with a minimum of 128MB storage space.
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Q: Do the PCMCIA flash cards support subdirectories?
Yes. As documented in the 9408sl Installation and Getting Started Guide, "The PCMCIA flash card file system is hierarchical, which means that it supports subdirectories."
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Q: Can software files be copied from internal flash to a PCMCIA card (for taking to another 9408sl)?
Yes. A command is "copy flash slot1 primary <filename>", for example.
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Q: How many power supplies are required for a 9408sl with 8 interface modules installed?
Three power supplies are required to power a 9408sl with 8 interface modules installed. The first power supply provides power to the management module(s), the switch fabric module, and 2 interface modules. The second power supply provides power to 3 additional interface modules. The third power supply provides power to the remaining 3 interface modules. The 9408sl ships with 3 power supplies, enough to fully power the system. An additional 3 power supplies can be purchased (for a total of 6) to provide complete power redundancy for the system.
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Q: What is the recommended power connection for a ProCurve 9408sl Routing Switch?
Ensure that the routing switch does not overload the power circuits, wiring, and over-current protection. To determine the possibility of overloading the supply circuits, add together the ampere (Amp) ratings of all devices installed on the same circuit as the routing switch. Compare the total with the rating limit for the circuit. The maximum ampere ratings are usually printed on the devices near the AC power connectors. A separate branch circuit is recommended for each power supply, to ensure redundancy in case one circuit fails. In addition, for operation in the 100-125 Volt range, a separate 20-Amp branch circuit is required for each power supply, to avoid overloading the circuit.
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Q: Are the power supplies hot-swappable?
Yes, the 9408sl power supplies are hot-swappable. However, the power cord must be disconnected before the power supply is removed from or installed into the chassis.
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Q: How should the management module's 10/100-TX Ethernet interface be connected to the network?
Ideally, the management module will be connected to a dedicated "management subnet" that is physically separate from the user subnets. The connection is via a straight-through Ethernet cable from the management module port (with MDI pinouts) to a switch port on the management subnet (which would have MDI-X pinouts).
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Q: Is the management module's ethernet port the same interface for both management modules, or is each management module's ethernet port configured separately?
Only the active management module can be configured. The configuration is immediately copied to the standby. Because only the active management module can be accessed, ProCurve recommends connecting each management module to the management subnet, so that the active management module can always be reached over the network, no matter which management module is active.
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Q: Will both the active and standby management module ethernet ports get link?
No. Only the active one has link, and with switchover the standby module immediately gets link.
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Q: Does the standby management module take over the MAC address of the primary during failover?
No. Each management module has its own MAC address. The management module issues a "gratuitous ARP" upon switchover, so everyone should learn its new MAC address.
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Q: How fast is failover between management modules?
A: Failover is almost instantaneous. At layer 2, failover is "hitless", meaning table entries are maintained instead of being relearned.
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Q: What software files are needed to upgrade the 9408sl?
There are 8 total software files. Here are the filenames for the initial release of software for the ProCurve 9408sl Routing Switch:
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filename
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| Management module boot-and-monitor image |
mb02100c.bin |
| Management module application image |
mpr02100c.bin |
| Interface module boot-and-monitor image |
lb02100c.bin |
| Interface module application image |
lp02100c.bin |
| FPGA PBIF image |
pbif02100c.bin |
| FPGA XTM image |
xtm02100c.bin |
| FPGA XPP image |
xpp02100c.bin |
| FPGA XBRIDGE image |
xbridge02100c.bin |
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The software is provided on the WWW as a Winzip file, which includes the 8 images listed above, the Release Notes for the software version, and a sample install script.
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Q: Why do the filenames all have 02100c in them?
The initial release of 9408sl software is 02.1.00c. Each FPGA file contains the appropriate version number for each of the available interface modules - and that FPGA version number varies from module to module. Also, new versions of software do not necessarily include new FPGA versions for all the interface modules, but might include updates for some of the interface modules. ProCurve identifies the appropriate FPGA files for a given software version by appending the software version number to the FPGA filenames.
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Q: Is there a way to perform the software upgrade without individually copying the 8 software images to the system one by one?
The software can be copied (installed) onto the modules with a script, so that one command performs the entire process. A sample script is included with the software Winzip file. The script must be edited to give the IP address of the user's TFTP server, and the edited script must be placed in the same directory as the 8 software image files. The sample script includes the syntax with which to launch the script. After the script completes the installation of software files, the 9408sl must be rebooted using the "boot system flash" command. Detailed instructions are included in the Release Notes for 02.1.00c software.
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Q: Why do I get error messages from some interface modules when I attempt to upgrade the FPGA XBRIDGE image on all interface modules?
The XBRIDGE image is used only for the 60-port 10/100/1000-T module. The other modules will generate error messages if the system attempts to load the XBRIDGE image on them, but the software upgrade is not affected by the error messages.
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Q: If the switch fabric module fails, does the 9408sl stop switching packets?
Yes, while the switch fabric module is down, there is no inter-module switching. Some customers may want to purchase a spare switch fabric module to have on-hand, to allow very quick replacement.
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Q: How do I order a spare switch fabric module?
A spare switch fabric module (part #J8687-80003) can be ordered from the HP Parts Store (Online Shopping) webpage (www.hp.com/buy/parts).
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Printable version
