Can ProCurve 2910al's be joined as single router?

[NobleMetric]

HI all, 

I have two 2910 al's and I would like to have them act as the core layer 3 switches of my LAN. The switches are connected via a 10Gb interconnect module.

Ideally I would like to have them stacked together and act as a single switch router. Any static routes that are setup on the first 2910 would also be replicated to the second one. And if the first switch fails, the second one will continue to serve routing requests etc.

At a minimum I would like these switches to be the single IP address that all other devices will use as their default gateway. 

I bought these switches on the assumption that they would have functionality similar to cisco's "stackwise" to achieve the above. If they do not have this type of facility, can anyone recommend a configuration to achieve the redundancy that I require?

Thanks.

[Fredrik Lönnman]

They do not have the kind of stackwise-stacking you're looking at (the ex-h3c A5500 model with IRF would be the choice for that).

Also since the 2910 doesn't support VRRP I dont really see how you would be able to do the single ip first hop redundancy either.

[NobleMetric]

Fredrik,

Many thanks for your repsonse. It seems I will have to change my plans !

[Fredrik Lönnman]

I'd guess the lowest end procurve that supports VRRP would be the 3500yl, but if you want the stackwire-like stacking better look at the A-series, A5500EI is a good fit.

[paulgear]

The 5500-EI/HI are a great switch for the price. I've been very happy with their performance, features, and ease of use every time i've used them. I plan to switch to Comware everywhere it makes sense when doing switch upgrades.

Another option if you don't want to switch to Comware is the 3800 series, but i believe they're a lot more expensive than the 2910s & 5500-EIs.

[NobleMetric]

All, 

Many thanks for the assistance and feedback on this. 

So I am considering changing the 2910s for 3800s instead (although they are very expensive in comparison). 

Just to reiterate my proposed setup...

I want to place two 3800s at the core of a small network. They will act as the core switches and aprox 8 other switches (for desktop pcs and phones) will hang off the 3800s. I intend to have two VLANs  on the 3800s:

Vlan 100 will act as the DATA Vlan for PCs, servers etc. 

Vlan 200 will act as the VOICE Vlan for IP Phones. 

Both Vlans will be on separate subnets. 

Devices on Vlan 100 will need to be able to communicate with devices on Vlan 200 and vice versa. 

So I am proposing that I configure a single Virtual Router on the 3800s using VRRP. This router will act as the default gateway for devices on Vlan 100 and devices on Vlan 200. The Virtual Router will have an IP address in the Vlan 100 subnet AND an IP address in the Vlan 200 subnet. 

The Virtual router will be the only router on the network and will be fault tolerant due to using VRRP. 

Does this setup sound sensible? Is it the correct way to use VRRP? Can the Router have an ip address in BOTH subnets?

Finally, do I need to consider "stacking" the 3800's or will VRRP do everything I need? 

Many thanks for your advice!

[Matcol]

Personally, I think I would prefer to use "stacking" where available, rather than VRRP.

Make sure you price some 5500s for comparison as well, to make sure you're spending your money wisely.