Central Switch Stacking
The product team is pleased to announce the release of Central Switch Stacking. With the introduction of switch stacking in Sophos Central, we’re giving network administrators a way to streamline management, reduce complexity, and scale with confidence. Switch stacking makes it easier and faster to get more done; for network teams that are already stretched, this will be a welcome addition.
What is switch stacking?
A switch stack is a group of switches logically combined into a single unit with the intent to provide management over the switches as if they were a single entity. With Sophos, the switch stack management is delivered through Sophos Central.
What is Central Switch Stacking?
Central Switch Stacking provides a management overlay to reduce the management complexity when running Sophos switches wired together as a switch stack. Central Switch Stacking offers the following capabilities through Sophos Central.
Offers switch stacking visualization, delivering a visual representation of the configured switch stack. The information provided includes a physical representation of the switches that makes up the stack, along with the connection details between the switches.
Supports the ability to create and manage multiple Sophos switch stacks. For switch customers that have multiple locations where a pair or more of switches are deployed and wired as a switch stack, this reduces the complexity of managing the switches independently.
Central Switch Stack management includes VLANs, Advanced Port Settings, PoE management, QoS, and Snooping. All other Central switch management features are available.
Sophos Switch Details
Central Switch Stacking uses the existing Sophos switch models with the following recommendations.
Central Switch Stacking works with the existing Sophos Switch hardware and firmware. Additionally, you can mix and match switch models to form a switch stack. For a list of switch models, please visit Sophos Switches | Control Device Access at the LAN Edge.
- Sophos recommends using the latest version 02.1.1791 of switch firmware before creating any switch stacks. For additional specifics on the firmware, please visit Sophos Switch Firmware 02.1.1791.
Leverage the existing SFP+, SFP, or Ethernet ports to physically wire the switches that will make up the switch stack. To increase performance and improve resilience between the wired switches, Sophos recommends using Link Aggregation.
Central Switch Stacking Documentation
Please visit the Central Switch Stacking admin guide below for added configuration details.
Central Switch Stack Management
Sophos Switch Products Known Issues List
For a list of known issues, please visit https://doc.sophos.com/support/kil/index.html