I am deploying a number of CRS-106-1C-5S using a fiber ring topology for redundancy.
Each end of the ring is connected to the sfp ports of a CRS212-1G-10S-1S+.
I have set up VLANs using the switch chip in the switches (Both CRS106 and CRS112). However I’m experiencing loops, bringing the loop/broadcast traffic up to close to wire speed.
I have tried the setting loop-protect but no cigar.
Is it possible to avoid loops using the switch chips (for instance the setting loop-protect) or will I have to revert to oldschool bridges and rstp, which copes fine with the loops?
Most likely, the traffic carried over the network will be limited (telemetry) so bridges will work, but it would be nice to use the switch chips…
RSTP on the bridges works so smoothly…I can pull out and replug any fiber and it always re-establishes the connection…however it is more elegant to use the switch chips, and it removes CPU load.
So guys: How to achieve loop protection using the switch chip???
I tried this yesterday, but I can’t get it to work quite as expected.
Using vlans from /interface vlan and plain bridges I achieved full failover.
Pulling any fiber only caused the connection to halt for a few seconds, then it was back on track using another one.
Using the switch chip with the master port added to an rstp bridge prevents loops and the “near wire speed” loop traffic that I see without the bridge.
But the failover does not work the way I want.
Example:
I connect 2 switches, each with a switch group containing sfp1-4 and with vlans set up in /interface ethernet switch.
Connecting them via one single fiber sfp1-sfp1 and connection is established.
Adding a second fiber sfp2-sfp2 makes no change, no loop, fine.
However pulling the sfp1-sfp1 connection causes the connection to fail, and it won’t recover over sfp2 whatsoever.
Re-connecting sfp1-sfp2 recovers the connection.
In cases with a more complex setup (which worked flawlessly with oldschool vlans/bridges) the connections sometimes simply disappeared and did not recover until the switches were rebooted.
So, are there known issues using rstp bridges and switch chip setup?
Any tweaking I can or must do?
As you understand, the functionality I want is achievable with vlans/bridges, but considering the rather poor CPU of the CRS106 I’d love to use the switch chip.
