> For a switch, there are four stages, not two: Agreed. > 1. The out-of-reset state, which from what I've seen seems to be to > behave like a dumb switch.
For the Marvell Switches, there is a pin you can strap to control this, NO_CPU. If you say there is no CPU, it will power up in dumb switch mode, and potentially bring your network down with a broadcast storm because of loops. So yes, you need to think about this at all four stages, and make sure your hardware engineer is also on board. Andrew