All the posts I can find about redundant switches only address the servers connected to the switches. I need to confirm my configuration on both the servers and the router handling the traffic.
We're using Mikrotik routers and switches and I'm planning the following configuration.
+----------+
+------------+ CCR 1072 +-------------+
| sfp1 +----------+ sfp2 |
| bond (balance-xor) |
+-----+----+ +-----+----+
| | | |
| switch A + + switch B |
| CRS 317 | | CRS 317 |
+-----+----+ +-----++---+
| |
| +-------+ |
+-------------+ host1 +---------------+
eth0 +-------+ eth1
bond (active/backup)
There's no link or stacking of the switches. I don't need to load balance I'm just looking for redundancy at this stage. I had considered active/backup on the router side too but if sfp1 fails on the router and eth0 on the host can still reach the switch I wondered if that would stay up and traffic would stop.
Am I on the right track here?
Is there anything I need to consider like STP for example?
Should I use 802.3ad instead?
Best Answer
After some trial and error .. and some packet loss .. I've added a cross connect between the switches and settled for active/backup on all devices and set the primary so that all traffic is running across Switch A in normal operation and in a failed condition traffic will move across to Switch B
It doesn't give me any performance boost but it does give me the redundancy I'm looking for.
This is the end result.