Hey it's Clint Garrett, Ace Networker and we're going to talk about connecting switches together.
Now we connect multiple switches together on a network oftentimes a small to a medium-sized or
even a very large network we'll have multiple switches on it and there needs to be a way
to connect these switches together directly to each other. So we haven't talked about this yet,
but we're going to get into the types of connections and the types of cables that you use
to connect two or more switches together on a computer network. So stay tuned!
Connecting 2 or more switches on a computer network is a very common functionality. By
connecting 2 or more switches together we gain a larger amount of connectivity and benefits
on a computer network. One of the first things that occurs from connecting multiple switches
together on the same network is that you increase the size of the broadcast domain. You've got
more nodes connected together. You also create a larger physical distance on the network,
so essentially a larger network. There are essentially 2 ways to make these connections
between 2 or more switches: Uplink ports, whereby you connect the uplink port on one switch to a
normal networking port on the other switch using a straight through cable, and Port-to-Port,
using normal networking switch ports, typically on the front of the switch using a cross over
cable. Now I'd like to point out that if you don't yet understand the different types of networking
cables and their pin layouts inside each type of cable (in this case we're talking about straight
through and crossover cables) make sure to check out this video where I go through the different
types of cables and how the internal wires and pins are arranged within each. So let's take a
look at the first type of connection...the uplink port connection between two switches. I'll show
you how that works. Then we'll look more closely at the more commonly used connection method used
between 2 switches...the crossover cable using the normal networking ports (again typically in the
front of the switch). When you use an uplink port nine times out of ten the manufacturer
will clearly mark that port on the physical switch as being the "uplink" If you choose to use the
uplink port you will have to use a straight-thru type network cable to connect the other switch
using one of that other switch's normal network connection ports. These would be the same ports
you might connect any other device to that second switch with, like printers, desktops,
laptops, servers etc. There are several different reasons for using the uplink port on one switch
connected to a networking port on the other switch. In my experience you get some benefits in
the way the port can be configured in the switch's configuration. Sometimes, again depending on the
manufacturer, you can give yourself more "real estate" by freeing up a normal network port on the
front of the switch by using the uplink port for connecting to an adjacent switch on the network.
You can often change some specific settings for things like Spanning Tree and management access
in the configuration settings for the uplink port that you may not have available on the normal
network port. To daisy chain multiple switches together using the uplink port method you will
use one uplink port connected to one regular port then uplink port connected to the next switch's
regular port just like in this diagram. If you choose to work with uplink ports on switches, just
take your time and watch that the connections are done correctly. I also wanted to point out that
switch manufacturers sometimes call the uplink port by a different name or give it a different
label. You may see it called "crossover" or "mdix" or "out" Also I feel like this is a
really good time to point something else out on networking switches. If you see a line on
the label connecting the uplink port and another port like this whereby you have a line running to
the 2x port this more often than not means you can only use one port or the other you cannot
use both ports at the same time. And last but not least when dealing with uplink ports on switches
some manufacturers will place a button next to the uplink port. This button allows you to change
the port from an uplink port to a regular port and back again if you so choose. When you press
the button it changes the pin layout inside the port to make the port either uplink or regular
network port. This leads us to the other type of connection between switches using regular network
port to regular network port using a crossover cable. Now this is actually the more common
type of connection used on-the-fly by network technicians, admins and engineers. If you choose
to connect 2 switches together using their regular network ports, again typically on the front of a
physical switch, you have to use a crossover cable between the 2, you cannot use a straight-thru
cable. This is because if you inadvertently use a straight-thru cable, both switches will
attempt to send their data on the second pair of wires (pins 3 and 6) and they will try to listen
for data on the first pair of wires (pins 1 and 2). A crossover cable reverses the pins on each
end of the cable so one end will be wired with the T568a standard and the other end will be the T568b
standard. Again check out this video showing the different types of cable pin layouts if you don't
understand those yet. So when connecting switches together those are the two types of connections
you can use. Now there's one other thing I wanted to point out here. On most newer Layer 2, Layer 3
and Multi-layer switches you will have a feature - and it may be physically marked on or next to each
port - but you will have a feature called MDI-X. The MDI stands for Media Dependent Interface which
is for a regular port on a switch. When you see MDI-X this means it's capable of being an uplink
port. Most newer switches have a feature called "Auto MDI-X" which actually senses which type of
cable is connected and can change from MDI regular port to MDI-X uplink port if it needs to. Now this
is more often due to human error but I've seen a lot of technicians just use whatever type of
network cable they have available and they rely on the "Auto MDI-X" to make the correct determination
for them. I don't recommend this as you need to know what you're using on your network and
how things are connected but that's neither here nor there. In troubleshooting connectivity issues
on a network if the connection isn't working one of the first things you look at is the MDI/MDI-X
and determine if you're using the correct cable on the connection and if the cable is good
or not. So that's the basics of connecting switches together. If you like this video
make sure to smash the thumbs up button and I'll see you on the next video!