Topology discovery in a stacked switches system

1. A method of topology discovery in a stacked switches system including a plurality of stack groups, wherein the method comprises:

collecting, by a device serving as a member device of a first stack group of the plurality of stack groups in the stacked switches system, stacking information of all member devices in the first stack group;

identifying, by the device, a physical topology of the first stack group based on the stacking information of all member devices in the first stack group;

binding, by the device, based on the stacking information of all member devices in the first stack group, all inter-group stack ports sharing an identical identifier in the first stack group with an aggregated stacking link group;

collecting, by the device, stacking information of a second stack group in the stacked switches system; and

identifying, by the device based on the stacking information of the first and second stack groups in the stacked switches system, a physical topology of the stacked switches system.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the operation of collecting the stacking information of all member devices in the first stack group comprises:

sending, by the device, stacking information of the device through an intra-group stack port of the device; and

receiving, by the device, stacking information of another member device in the first stack group through the intra-group stack port of the device.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the operation of collecting the stacking information of all member devices in the first stack group comprises:

sending, by the device, stacking information of the device through a first intra-group stack port and a second intra-group stack port of the device;

receiving, by the device, stacking information of other member devices in the first stack group through the first intra-group stack port and the second intra-group stack port respectively;

adding, by the device, the stacking information of the device to the stacking information received through the first intra-group stack port to form a first combined stacking information, and sending the first combined stacking information through the second intra-group stack port; and

adding, by the device, the stacking information of the device to the stacking information received through the second intra-group stack port to form a second combined stacking information, and sending the second combined stacking information through the first intra-group stack port.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the operation of collecting the stacking information of the first and second stack groups comprises:

sending, by the device, stacking information of the first stack group through the aggregated stacking link group; and

receiving, by the device, the stacking information of the second stack group in the stacked switches system through the aggregated stacking link group.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the binding all inter-group stack ports further comprises:

binding, by the device, first inter-group stack ports, sharing an identical identifier, of all the member devices in the first stack group with a first aggregated stacking link group of the first stack group; and

binding, by the device, second inter-group stack ports, sharing another identical identifier, of all the member devices in the first stack group with a second aggregated stacking link group of the first stack group.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the aggregated stacking link group comprises a first aggregated stacking link group and a second aggregated stacking link group, and

wherein the operation of collecting the stacking information of the second stack group further comprises:

sending, by the device, stacking information of the first stack group through the first aggregated stacking link group and the second aggregated stacking link group;

receiving, by the device, stacking information of other stack groups in the stacked switches system through the first aggregated stacking link group and the second aggregated stacking link group respectively;

adding, by the device, the stacking information of the first stack group to the stacking information received through the first aggregated stacking link group to form a first piece of stacking information, and sending the first piece of stacking information through the second aggregated stacking link group; and

adding, by the device, the stacking information of the first stack group to the stacking information received through the second aggregated stacking link group to form a second piece of stacking information, and sending the second piece of stacking information through the first aggregated stacking link group.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the aggregated stacking link group comprises a first aggregated stacking link group and a second aggregated stacking link group, and

wherein the operation of collecting the stacking information of the second stack group further comprises:

sending, by the device, stacking information of the first stack group through the first aggregated stacking link group and the second aggregated stacking link group;

receiving, by the device, stacking information of other stack groups in the stacked switches system through the first aggregated stacking link group and the second aggregated stacking link group respectively;

increasing, by the device, each hop count in the stacking information received through the first aggregated stacking link group by 1, adding the stacking information of the first stack group to the stacking information received through the first aggregated stacking link group to form a piece of stacking information, and sending the piece of stacking information through the second aggregated stacking link group; and

increasing, by the device, each hop count in the stacking information received through the second aggregated stacking link group by 1, adding the stacking information of the first stack group to stacking information received through the second aggregated stacking link group to form another piece of stacking information, and sending the another piece of stacking information through the first aggregated stacking link group.

8. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

electing, by the device, a master device of the first stack group based on the collected stacking information of all member devices in the first stack group; and

electing, by the device, a master stack group of the stacked switches system based on the collected stacking information.

9. An apparatus comprising a member device in a stack group of a stacked switches system, wherein the member device comprises:

at least one processor and a memory device storing instructions to be executed by the at least one processor;

the at least one processor configured to:

collect stacking information of all member devices in a first stack group which the device belongs to;

identify a physical topology of the first stack group based on the stacking information of all member devices in the first stack group;

bind, based on the stacking information of all member devices in the first stack group, all inter-group stack ports sharing an identical identifier in the first stack group with an aggregated stacking link group of the first stack group;

collect stacking information of a plurality of stack groups in the stacked switches system; and

identify, based on the stacking information of the plurality of stack groups, a physical topology of the stacked switches system.

10. The apparatus of claim 9 , wherein the at least one processor is further configured to:

send stacking information of the member device through an intra-group stack port of the member device; and

receive stacking information of another member device in the first stack group through the intra-group stack port.

11. The apparatus of claim 10 , wherein the at least one processor is further configured to:

elect a master device of the first stack group based on the collected stacking information of all member devices in the first stack group; and

elect a master stack group of the stacked switches system based on the collected stacking information of the plurality of stack groups.

12. The apparatus of claim 9 , wherein the at least one processor is further configured to:

send stacking information of the member device through a first intra-group stack port and a second intra-group stack port of the member device;

receive stacking information of other member devices in the first stack group through the first intra-group stack port and the second intra-group stack port respectively;

add the stacking information of the member device to the stacking information received through the first intra-group stack port to form a first combined stacking information, and send the first combined stacking information through the second intra-group stack port; and

add the stacking information of the member device to the stacking information received through the second intra-group stack port to form a second combined stacking information, and send the second combined stacking information through the first intra-group stack port.

13. The apparatus of claim 9 , wherein the at least one processor is further configured to:

send stacking information of the first stack group through the aggregated stacking link group; and

receive stacking information of another stack group in the stacked switches system through the aggregated stacking link group.

14. The apparatus of claim 9 , wherein, when binding all inter-group stack ports, the at least one processor is further configured to:

bind first inter-group stack ports, sharing an identical identifier, of all the member devices in the first stack group with a first aggregated stacking link group of the first stack group; and

bind second inter-group stack ports, sharing another identical identifier, of all the member devices in the first stack group with a second aggregated stacking link group of stack group of the first stack group.

15. The apparatus of claim 9 , wherein the aggregated stacking link group comprises a first aggregated stacking link group and a second aggregated stacking link group, and

wherein the at least one processor is further configured to:

send stacking information of the first stack group through the first aggregated stacking link group and the second aggregated stacking link group;

receive stacking information of other stack groups in the stacked switches system through the first aggregated stacking link group and the second aggregated stacking link group respectively;

add the stacking information of the first stack group to the stacking information received through the first aggregated stacking link group to form a first piece of stacking information, and send the first piece of stacking information through the second aggregated stacking link group; and

add the stacking information of the first stack group to the stacking information received through the second aggregated stacking link group to form a second piece of stacking information, and send the second piece of stacking information through the first aggregated stacking link group.

16. The apparatus of claim 9 , wherein the aggregated stacking link group comprises a first aggregated stacking link group and a second aggregated stacking link group, and

wherein the at least one processor is further configured to:

send stacking information of the first stack group through the first aggregated stacking link group and the second aggregated stacking link group;

receive stacking information of other stack groups in the stacked switches system through the first aggregated stacking link group and the second aggregated stacking link group respectively;

increase each hop count in the stacking information received through the first aggregated stacking link group by 1, add the stacking information of the first stack group to the stacking information received through the first aggregated stacking link group to form a piece of stacking information, and send the piece of stacking information through the second aggregated stacking link group; and

increase each hop count in the stacking information received through the second aggregated stacking link group by 1, add the stacking information of the first stack to the stacking information received through the second aggregated stacking link group to form another piece of stacking information, and send the another piece of stacking information through the first aggregated stacking link group.