1 - 6 ONline 17-Slot System Concentrator Installation and Operation Guide
TriChannel Architecture
The ONline System Conce ntrator's TriChannel architecture lets you run
Ethernet, Token Ring, and FDDI netw orks, all in the same concentra tor.
This allows a single ONline unit to do the work of three conventional hubs.
You can also run multiple E thernet networks or mixture of Ethernet, Token
Ring, and FDDI networks in any combina tion you want. This architecture is
shown in Figure 1-5.
Any module you add to t he concentrator can be assigned to any of three
networks on its backplane and can be easily moved to another backplane
network using either an on-board dip switch or remote network
management.
Additionally, any module can be set to “isolated” mo de whereby it acts as
an isolated network - n ot connected to the conc entrator backplane. This
mode lets you isolate users from the m ain network. This can be useful for
security or as a temporary situa tion to prevent traffic from contamina ting
the network (for example, if some users are c onducting network tests or
running at very high loa ds.)
Port-Switching Technology
Available port-switching mo dules allow you to assign an y port to any
backplane network using a network ma nagement command. This allows
you to perform moves, add s, and changes at the netw ork console, saving
costly and time-consuming trips to the w iring closet. It also allows you to
get additional bandwidth on demand by switching users to lower volume
networks during peak tra ffic periods.