Operation Manual – ClusterH3C S7500 Series Ethernet Switches Chapter 1 Cluster1-5the management device transmits the data to the external server. When themanagement program running on the external server manages the memberdevice, the external server transmits the protocol packets to the managementdevice first, and then the management device forwards the protocol packets to themember device.You can configure public FTP servers, TFTP servers, logging hosts and SNMP hostsfor the whole cluster. The management device in the cluster is the default public FTPserver of the cluster when the public FTP server of the cluster is not configured. Cluster,together with the network management system, can perform large-scaled devicemanagement.Note:The S7500 series manage the cluster with VLAN 1, which serves as the managementVLAN in the cluster. You are required to configure the IP address of the Layer 3 virtualinterface of the management VLAN before setting up a cluster. Otherwise, the clustercannot be set up successfully. After the cluster is set up, you are not allowed to modifythe IP address of the management VLAN interface.1.1.5 Switch Roles in the ClusterAccording to their functions and status in a cluster, switches in the cluster play differentroles. You can specify the role a switch plays. A switch also changes its role accordingto specific rules.The following three switch roles exist in a cluster: management device, member device,and candidate device.Table 1-1 Switch roles in the clusterRole Configuration DescriptionManagementdevicez Configured with apublic IP address.z Receivemanagementcommands that auser sendsthrough the publicnetwork andprocess thereceivedcommandsz Provide management interfaces for allswitches in the clusterz Manage member devices by redirectingcommands, that is, forward thecommands to the intended memberdevices for processingz Provide the following functions,including neighbor discovery, topologyinformation collection, clustermanagement, and cluster statemaintenance, and support all types ofFTP servers and SNMP host proxies