Hibernation wake mechanism on a stack of switches using stacking links

1 . A method for facilitating wake-up on a stack of network devices, the method comprising:

receiving, by a commander device of the stack of network devices, a notification which indicates that the commander device is to wake up from a hibernation state;

booting up, by the commander device, in response to receiving the notification;

transmitting a wake-up signal as an energy pulse detectable based on a width and amplitude associated with the energy pulse to a first member device of the stack of network devices via a first stacking link coupling to the first member device; and

allowing the first member device to boot up from the hibernation state in response to receiving the energy pulse on the first stacking link and to transmit the wake-up signal as the energy pulse detectable based on the width and amplitude associated with the energy pulse to a second member device via a second stacking link coupling to the second member device.

2 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

prior to transmitting the wake-up signal to the first member device, enabling, by the commander device, a port configured as the first stacking link.

3 . The method of claim 1 ,

wherein the notification comprises a packet received from a controller via an Out of Band management (OOBM) interface.

4 . The method of claim 1 ,

wherein the notification is associated with a user operation performed on the commander device.

5 . The method of claim 1 ,

wherein transmitting the wake-up signal comprises transmitting an optical signal over a fiber optic cable.

6 . The method of claim 1 ,

wherein transmitting the wake-up signal comprises transmitting an electrical signal over a direct attach copper (DAC) cable.

7 . The method of claim 1 ,

wherein the wake-up signal comprises a pulse with a predetermined minimum width and a predetermined minimum amplitude.

8 . A commander device in a stack of network devices, the commander device comprising:

at least one processing resource;

a plurality of ports; and

a storage device storing instructions which when executed by the at least one processing resource cause the at least one processing resource to execute the instructions to:

receive a notification indicating that the commander device is to wake up from a hibernation state;

boot up in response to receiving the notification;

transmit a wake-up signal as an energy pulse detectable based on a width and amplitude associated with the energy pulse to a first member device of the stack of network devices via a first stacking link coupling to the first member device; and

allow the first member device to boot up from the hibernation state in response to receiving the energy pulse on the first stacking link and transmit the wake-up signal as the energy pulse detectable based on the width and amplitude associated with the energy pulse to a second member device via a second stacking link coupling to the second member device.

9 . The commander device of claim 8 , the instructions further to:

prior to transmitting the wake-up signal to the first member device, enable a port configured as the first stacking link; and

prior to transmitting the wake-up signal to the second member device, enable a port configured as the second stacking link.

10 . The commander device of claim 8 ,

wherein the notification comprises a packet received from a controller via an out of band management (OOBM) interface.

11 . The commander device of claim 8 ,

wherein the notification is associated with a user operation performed on the commander device.

12 . The commander device of claim 8 , the instructions further to:

transmit the wake-up signal by transmitting an optical signal over a fiber optic cable.

13 . The commander device of claim 8 , the instructions further to:

transmit the wake-up signal by transmitting an electrical signal over a direct attach copper (DAC) cable.

14 . The commander device of claim 8 ,

wherein the wake-up signal comprises a pulse with a predetermined minimum width and a predetermined minimum amplitude.

15 . A stack of network devices, comprising:

a commander device comprising at least one first processor and at least one first non-transitory computer-readable medium storing first instructions; and

one or more member devices, wherein a respective member device comprises at least one second processor and at least one second non-transitory computer-readable medium storing second instructions;

wherein the first instructions when executed by the at least one first processor are to:

receive a notification which indicates that the commander device is to wake up from a hibernation state;

boot up the commander device in response to receiving the notification; and

transmit a wake-up signal as an energy pulse detectable based on a width and amplitude associated with the energy pulse to a first member device via a first stacking link coupling to the first member device; and

wherein the second instructions when executed by the at least one second processor are to:

receive the wake-up signal via the stacking link coupling to the first member device;

boot up a first member device from the hibernation state in response to receiving the energy pulse on the first stacking link; and

transmit the wake-up signal as the energy pulse detectable based on the width and amplitude associated with the energy pulse to a second member device via a second stacking link coupling to the second member device.

16 . The stack of network devices of claim 15 , wherein the first instructions are further to:

enable a port configured as the first stacking link prior to transmitting the wake-up signal to the first member device; and

enable a port configured as the second stacking link prior to transmitting the wake-up signal to the second member device.

17 . The stack of network devices of claim 15 , wherein the notification comprises at least one of:

a packet received from a controller via an out of band management (OOBM) interface; or

a notification associated with a user operation performed on the commander device.

18 . The stack of network devices of claim 15 ,

wherein the wake-up signal comprises at least one of an optical signal transmitted over a fiber optic cable or an electrical signal transmitted over a direct attach copper (DAC) cable.

19 . The stack of network devices of claim 15 ,

wherein transmitting the wake-up signal to the second member device via the second stacking link causes the second member device to:

boot up from the hibernation state in response to detecting the wake-up signal; and

transmit the wake-up signal to a third member device in response to identifying a third stacking link coupling to the third member device.

20 . The stack of network devices of claim 15 ,

wherein one of the member devices comprises a standby device for the commander device.