GarrettCom 6K16V Operation, Switching Functionality, Filtering and Forwarding, Address Learning

Magnum 6K16V Managed Fiber Switch Installation and User Guide (06/04)

4.0OPERATION

This chapter describes the functions and operation of the Magnum 6K16V Switch.

4.1Switching Functionality

A Magnum 6K16V provides switched connectivity at Ethernet wire-speed

among all of its ports. The Magnum 6K16V supports10/100Mbs for copper media and 10 or 100Mb separate traffic domains for fiber ports to maximize bandwidth utilization and network performance. All ports can communicate to all other ports in a Magnum 6K16V, but local traffic on a port will not consume any of the bandwidth on any other port.

Magnum 6K16V units are plug-and-play devices. There is no software configuring necessary to be done for basic operation at installation or for maintenance. The only hardware configuration settings are user options for an UP-LINK Switch (resides inside the unit) on the 6K8-RJ45. Optional Half / Full duplex mode and 10 or 100Mbps selection for the switched ports must be configured through MNS software per unit as per the requirement. The internal functions of both are described below.

Filtering and Forwarding

Each time a packet arrives on one of the switched ports, the decision is taken to either filter or to forward the packet. Packets whose source and destination addresses are on the same port segment will be filtered, constraining them to that one port and relieving the rest of the network from having to process them. A packet whose destination address is on another port segment will be forwarded to the appropriate port, and will not be sent to the other ports where it is not needed. Traffic needed for maintaining the operation of the network (such as occasional multi-cast packets) are forwarded to all ports.

The Magnum 6K16V Switches operate in the store-and-forward switching mode, which eliminates bad packets and enables peak performance to be achieved when there is heavy traffic on the network.

Address Learning

All Magnum 6K16V units have address table capacities of 4K node addresses suitable for use in larger networks. They are self-learning, so as nodes are added, removed or moved from one segment to another, the 6K16V Switch automatically keeps up with node locations.

An address-aging algorithm causes least-used addresses to fall out in favor of frequently-used addresses. To reset the address buffer, cycle power down-and-up.

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