Cabletron Systems STHI Improved Protection from Beaconing, Flash Downloads, IP Address Discovery

STHI Overview

Improved Protection from Beaconing 1

By utilizing multiple Ring Out TCU ports, users can provide enhanced reliability for existing networks which use passive MAUs because Ring Out TCU ports allow for the separate attachment of each MAU. Rather than daisy-chaining MAUs together as a single entity and risking their collective isolation in case of beaconing, the user can now attach each MAU individually, reducing the number of MAU ports that are at risk; ABRP is able to bypass individual Ring Out-to-MAU connections on an individual basis, leaving other workgroups unaffected. See Figure 1-2.

NOTE

The Ring Out TCU configuration does not provide for the MAU’s redundant connection to the ring. To achieve dual attachment to a MAU, use the Ring In and Ring Out TPIM ports.

1.2.7Flash Downloads

New and updated firmware may be downloaded into the STHI hub’s Flash EPROMs. This process may be executed by Cabletron’s Remote LANVIEW/Windows, version 3.0 or later, or by any device using BOOTP or TFTP protocols. Refer to Section 5.9.11, Firmware Image Downloads, for download instructions.

1.2.8IP Address Discovery

The STHI supports IP Address Discovery. Through a BootP server (a network device that holds a user-defined list of MAC addresses and corresponding IP addresses), network managers may attribute an IP address to any known MAC address. When the STHI is powered up without an IP address and IP Address Discovery is enabled, it issues BootP requests at user-set intervals, essentially asking “does anybody know my name?” If the BootP server recognizes the MAC address, it tells the STHI what IP address has been attributed to it. If no BootP sever responds after 500 request cycles, the STHI automatically boots from its own FLASH memory and remains without an IP address until a user provides one through the Local Management interface.

Each STHI has on its backplate a sticker which indicates its MAC address.

Page 1-6