How to Connect two or more Ethernet Switches
The Ethernet switches are connected in either of these three ways:
Switch Cascading: Cascade switches networking or cascading is a way of connecting switches in a successive layout. In this technique, the data is passed on from one switch to another until it reaches the desired location or switch.
Switch Stacking: Stacking is an advanced technique of interconnecting Ethernet switches. This technique is used to connect multiple Ethernet switches when a higher number of Ethernet switches are to be interconnected and daisy chain topology does not suffice. This technique allows connecting up to 24 Ethernet switches. This technique of stackable network switches are used for enhancing the efficiency of an Ethernet network. This technique offers higher scalability and easy maintenance of the switches as it does not involve any loops of bottleneck connections. In this technique, all the stacked switches together act as a single, powered-up switch.
Switch Clustering: Switch clustering is a technique in which up to 16 switches can be connected and managed over a single IP address. In this technique, a large number of Ethernet switches are clustered or interconnected together and are controlled by an administrative switch. The administrative switch is also known as a command switch. This switch commands and triggers the data transmission from one switch to another in the clustered network. Regardless of the location of the switches, this technique can be used to interlink the switches over Ethernet. It also offers security due to the arrangement of a standby command switch. If the main command switch fails, the standby command switch takes the charge and the data transmission is prevented from interruption.