Switch Meshing

Switch meshing is a load-balancing technology that enhances reliablity and performance in these ways:

• Provides significantly better bandwidth utilization than either Spanning Tree Protocol (STP) or standard port trunking.
• Uses redundant links that remain open to carry traffic, removing any single point of failure for disabling the network, and allowing quick responses to individual link failures. This also helps to maximize investments in ports and cabling.

Using multiple switches redundantly linked together to form a meshed switch domain, switch meshing dynamically distributes traffic across load-balanced switch paths by seeking the fastest paths for new traffic between nodes. If a link in a mesh fails, the fast convergence time designed into meshing typically has an alternate route selected in less than a second.

For more information on switch meshing, refer to the Management and Configuration Guide shipped with the Switch 4000M and Switch 2424M beginning in Fall, 1999, and also available on HP's ProCurve website. (Click on Technical Support, then Manual.)

To configure meshing on ports in the switch, use the Telnet link in the Configuration/Device View screen to access the switch console interface.

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