Black Box 5000 manual Link Administration, Channel Administration, Option Description

Multiserver 5000

11.7 Link Administration

RESET

If a link is not working properly (interconnect, mux, or X.21), it can be reset. If the other end of the link is a feeder mux, the mux will also reset. All channels currently using the link will experience a temporary interruption. See Section 11.1, Reset, and Table 11-1for more information on this procedure.

STATUS/STATISTICS

The following options of the Status/Statistics Menu provide link information:

Option		Description
1.	Node	Lists the current node IDs and
	Status	numbers, ports and link types of
		the nodes attached to the local
		unit. See Section 8.8, Review
		Link Configuration, for
		information on this option.
7.	System	Provides the the option of a
	Statistics	demand or period report on the
		system which includes the
		following link information:
		frame counts, utilization of
		composite and buffers,
		retransmits, and line alarms.

System Statistics also gives the time (in seconds) for system flow control, sync loss, and CD (carrier) loss. For X.21 links, it displays the number of call attempts across the link.

Refer to Section 11.6, Status/Statistics, for a complete discussion on the Status/Statistics menu.

CHANNEL PRIORITY OVER THE LINK

By default, integral voice/fax channels have the highest priority for transmission across the link, followed by sync data channels. LAN and async data channels are next, and they are of equal priority. This priority scheme minimizes delay for voice/fax and sync connections.

NOTE: There is one exception. Sync channels that use TDM protocol have higher priority than voice channels. This is because a certain amount of bandwidth (the configured baud rate) is always reserved for the channel, regardless of its activity.

There are occasions when a sync channel may need to have bandwidth priority over voice/fax. To accomplish this, it is necessary to configure the sync channel (both local and remote ports) for high priority. (The option number depends upon the sync protocol used. See Section 9.2, Synchronous Channels, and Tables 9-2and 9-3.) Configure the voice/fax channel for low priority (refer to the MS1 Voice/Fax Card User’s Manual). For sync and voice/fax channels to have equal priority, set them both for high priority.

NOTE: A sync channel(s) configured as TDM protocol has reserved bandwidth which is not shared. The priority function noted above does not apply to channel(s) configured for TDM.

11.8 Channel Administration

Occasionally a data channel must be removed from service, reset, reconfigured, or returned to service. For instance, a channel may need to be removed from service so that periodic maintenance may be done on the attached device.

To reset a channel, refer to Section 11.1, Reset, and Table 11-1.

To remove an async port from service or return it to service, use the Switching Control Menu. Enable Channel and Disable Channel are two options on that menu. See Section 10.1, Switching Control, and Table 10-1for information on these procedures.

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