Creating MLT Trunk 1

[180990]

Hello,

Would someone here give to me detailed steps on how to create a MLT trunk between two ERS-5520 switches.

I'll be using fiber to connect those switches.

Cheers

 

[DaddyOfThree]

Here are the basic steps assuming you'll be using ports 47,48;

5520-48T-PWR (config)# vlan ports 47,48 tagging enable
5520-48T-PWR (config)# mlt 1 disable
5520-48T-PWR (config)# mlt 1 name “MLT-8600?
5520-48T-PWR (config)# mlt 1 learning disable
5520-48T-PWR (config)# mlt 1 member 47,48
5520-48T-PWR (config)# mlt 1 enable

You would just need to add the specific VLANs you want to trunk to ports 47 and 48. The Default VLAN (VLAN 1) is automatically a member of all ports out of the box.

You may wish to refer to this example;

http://blog.michaelfmcnamara.com/2007/10/nortel-ers-5520-pwr-switch/

Cheers!

 

[180990]

Thanks DaddyOfThree for your tip.

I have a couple more questions,
Could I use VLAN 1 for MLT trunk and have ports 47,48 as members of that VLAN as well as make it a management VLAN with PVID assigned to 1 for those two ports only?

Second question, when I want to set MLT do I configure both switches identically on either sides?

Just want to say thank you in advance for all of your tips

 

[DaddyOfThree]

You could use VLAN 1 as well as any number of other VLANs so long as the MLT ports are configured as trunks (tagging enable). I'm my environment I have multiple data/voice VLANs and then a dedicated management VLAN (VLAN 200) and they are all bridged/switched across the MLT trunk. I generally set the PVID for the MLT ports to my management VLAN.

You most definitely want both sides configured as an MLT (and make sure they are enabled) before you connect the fiber patches or you'll throw a loop into the network.

Just don't forget to change the management VLAN. Example below;

5520-48T-PWR (config)# vlan mgmt 200
5520-48T-PWR (config)# ip address switch 10.1.200.10 netmask 255.255.255.0 default-gateway 10.1.200.1

In the example above VLAN 200 (10.1.200.0/24) is my management VLAN. As previously mentioned here you also want to make sure that Spanning Tree is disabled on any MLT ports.

Good Luck!

 

[180990]

Just want to say thanks DaddyOfThree for all of the previus answers

Have another issue.
When I use ADAC for Nortel IP Phones. Do I need to configure DHCP-relay agent for my IP Phones to obtain configuration settings from my DHCP server?. I'm new to this VoIP stuff and been reading a lot but getting more confuesd by going to more details.

Here is my example.
My voice VLAN is 202
5520-1(config-if)#ip address is 10.202.15.1 255.255.0.0
5520-1(config-if)#ip dhcp-relay mode dhcp

5520-1(config)# ip dhcp-relay fwd-path 10.202.15.1 10.2.15.34 enable

Will the ADAC and LLDP-MED take care for all of that stuff, or I still need DHCP.

And Thanks again for all of your great stuff

Cheers

 

[jeter]

The most important thing on the voip phone is that you setup the right default gateway in your dhcp pool... I have seen to many times that the data is correct and the ips are wrong....... Phone guys trying to become data guys is a hard transition....

Also remember you can staticly assign your ip on the voip phones and setup all the required information such as port 7000 ip address, default GW, etc etc etc........


SPC NVARNG
Tek-TIP Member 19,650

 

[DaddyOfThree]

You will most certainly need both DHCP and LLDP-MED to automate the process. Assuming that you will be using the ERS5520 to perform the routing then the answer would be "yes" you should setup a DHCP forwarding agent.

I still only use the ERS5520s as Layer 2 switches, relying instead on my core ERS8600s to perform the routing (and DHCP forwarding).

There is a rather old (and not well written) article here;

http://mysite.verizon.net/michaelfmcnamara/other.htm#voip

That should help provide some outline of how you should proceed. I hope to rewrite it in the very near future.

As jeter mentions you want to be careful with your vendor classes when you build your DHCP scopes/pools. You only want to push the i2004 DHCP options to i2004 phones and not Microsoft Windows desktops/laptops and vice versa. By using the vendor class attribute you can control which DHCP scopes/polls get offered to which clients.

Also another easy gotcha... unless you are running v5.1 software on the ERS 5520 you need to make sure that ADAC MAC ranges include the MAC addresses for the phones you will be using. You can see in the links above the author adds a few ranges because they were not covered in the default switch configuration.

It might seem very overwhelming right now, but once everything is setup I've found it to be very stable and it really eases the burden between the telecom folks and the IT folks since every IP phone has the exact same configuration with the exception of NODE and TN.

Good Luck!

 

[180990]

Biggest Thanks DaddyOfThree,

Yes, I'm using ERS5520 with v5.1 software and the switch will perform routing. In my environment I do not have ERS8600s. Nortel hardware is new to us and it was recommended by VoIP provider for compatibility with existing phone system. I've created a scope on my DHCP server and configured option 128. Now when I boot my phone I see it registers on the switch and DHCP is assigning IP address to it. The only back draw I have, I do not have a call server configured at my site yet so the phone is showing Starting DHCP..., I guess that is the reason for the message until I get that other pice on the network.


There is one more thing that I'm not to sure why is not working.
I have two switches that are MLT Trunked on port 47,48 and according to Nortel documentation. Once you configure the Base switch the other switch will pickup all the VLAN's info from Base. But that does not happen, which I guess means something is no configured correctly.
Any ideas on this one?

Again Thank You to all off you guys for such good stuff.

Cheers,

 

[biv343]

In a new stack config, you need to configure the VLANs and info on the second switch. The stack is managed as one unit, so you will see ports such as 1/1-1/48, 2/1-2/48, etc.

There is a feature called auto unit replacement which allows you to replace a failed switch in a stack and have it get it's config from the base unit, but that only applies once the stack is programmed.

 

[180990]

Thanks biv343 for your quick response.

But these units are not configured as a Stack. I think stacking is available when you cascade two or more units together using cascade connectors at the back of the switches.

Right now what I have is 2 units linked together through MLT Trunk on ports 47,48 using Cat5e cable. Later on they'll be linked by fiber and moved to two different buildings. I thought that I'll be able to setup base unit first link it by creating MLT Trunk and all the info be populated to second unit as soon as it becomes available on line. I guess this won't be possible at this moment.

Thanks again for you response

Cheers,

 

[biv343]

If they aren't connected with cascade cables on the back end, then it's not a stack, and the base setting doesn't matter.

Since they are two separate switches, you have to program them independently.