3Com 5112M-TPLS Understanding the General Rules, Basic Network Rules

Understanding the General Rules

As part of your network design, it is important to consider your network size. For instance, is the network (end-to-end) 100 meters, 1000 meters, 4000 meters, or more? What are your plans for expansion? Your answers play a role in how you configure your network. For example, once the network expands beyond a certain size, you need to add a bridge or other internetworking device.

This section describes general rules for configuring an Ethernet network using fiber as the backbone medium. It also provides rules to ensure that your network configuration conforms to distance limitations imposed by Ethernet and networking equipment.

This section includes:

❑Basic Network Rules

❑LAN Equivalence

Basic Network Rules

This section outlines the basic network rules and 3Com’s recommendations for these rules. For more hardware-specific information on the 10-Port module, refer to Appendix A.

2 - 2 ONline 10BASE-T Security Module Installation and Operation Guide