Switches - Trunks, Etherchannels or Stacks.

Hi All,

In a Network Environment, what would you suggest would be more suitable as in the Pro's & Con's of configuring Layer 3 Switches as either Trunks, Etherchannels or Stacks?

I would like everyone to compare the 3* options and list the pro's and con's of them including an personal opinion on what would be more suitable.

Thanks in advance for your input.

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Comments

burbankmarc

Well the 3 aren't individually exclusive. You could have a trunk over etherchannels, while being in a stack.

All my switch to switch connectivity is over trunks. This allows me to add and remove VLANs easily (obviously).

I like to use etherchannels back to my core mainly for redundancy purposes, but the speed increase is also a good thing.

Stacks are handy wherever you put them. If your core is 3750's and you start running low on space you could always add another switch to the stack. Same if you stack your access switches.

ColbyG

RS_MCP wrote: »

I would like everyone to compare the 3* options and list the pro's and con's of them including an personal opinion on what would be more suitable.

This is asking quite a bit, don't you think?

Do you have some specific questions? This question is far too broad, IMO.

jason_lunde

One of the great things about "stacks" is that you can configure multi-chassis etherchannels to them. Provides a bit more redundancy than the common etherchannel imo.

RS_MCP

ColbyG wrote: »

This is asking quite a bit, don't you think?

Do you have some specific questions? This question is far too broad, IMO.

"burbankmarc" didnt seem to think so, his answer was pretty simple and straightforward.

burbankmarc

RS_MCP wrote: »

"burbankmarc" didnt seem to think so, his answer was pretty simple and straightforward.

Yeah but my answers were extremely basic. I was hoping I'd throw something out and you would maybe elaborate a bit.

Different technologies work best in different environments. Knowing what you want to accomplish allows you to apply the proper tools.

networker050184

burbankmarc wrote: »

Yeah but my answers were extremely basic. I was hoping I'd throw something out and you would maybe elaborate a bit.

Different technologies work best in different environments. Knowing what you want to accomplish allows you to apply the proper tools.

I think that is what ColbyG was getting at. I don't think we can sit here and list every pro and con without some more information and some specifics to your environment.

DevilWAH

It a bit of a null question in the first place as like Colby said, the three are mutualy exclusive.

you would not look at the pros and cons of configuring a switch has trunk OR etherchannel OR Stack ..Asking for this compassion suggests RS_MCP does not fully understand what these three things are.

I can tell you why you would or would not use each, but you can't really compare them with each other as to what is better...

xxdrexx

RS_MCP wrote: »

Hi All,

In a Network Environment, what would you suggest would be more suitable as in the Pro's & Con's of configuring Layer 3 Switches as either Trunks, Etherchannels or Stacks?

I would like everyone to compare the 3* options and list the pro's and con's of them including an personal opinion on what would be more suitable.

Thanks in advance for your input.

If you've got layer 3 switches I'd say "none of the above" and make them all routed ports.

Then run a routing protocol to do load balancing.

**edit** of course stacks where applicable...

RS_MCP

DevilWAH wrote: »

It a bit of a null question in the first place as like Colby said, the three are mutualy exclusive.

you would not look at the pros and cons of configuring a switch has trunk OR etherchannel OR Stack ..Asking for this compassion suggests RS_MCP does not fully understand what these three things are.

I can tell you why you would or would not use each, but you can't really compare them with each other as to what is better...

I ask a very simple question and all I get is either I dont understand or I need to explain more to a specific environment, clearly according to everyone here, they are 3* completely exclusive Networking methods and none of them has pro or cons.

This sentence would have done very fine in all of your answers, remind me not to ask questions again that clearly bother the great IT professionals who use this forum, you might be very technical but a bit pointless if you aint got a personality.

burbankmarc

RS_MCP wrote: »

I ask a very simple question and all I get is either I dont understand or I need to explain more to a specific environment, clearly according to everyone here, they are 3* completely exclusive Networking methods and none of them has pro or cons.

This sentence would have done very fine in all of your answers, remind me not to ask questions again that clearly bother the great IT professionals who use this forum, you might be very technical but a bit pointless if you aint got a personality.

Wow dude, no one here was rude with their answer. They just tried to explain that the 3 aren't really related, and tried to get you to explain a little more so we could help you a little more.

Your question was like me asking what's better, water or a trashcan?

Stotic

You worded your question with the assumption that all 3 are interchangeable technologies. Maybe you should do the 5 min research to figure out what they even are and then come back with more specific questions.