Bridging

2-70 Duplex Modes

To select the Bridge Mode/Explorer Type globally for all bridge interfaces on a
device in the Bridge ConÞguration window or for an individual interface in the
Port ConÞguration window:
1. Click in the Bridge Mode/Explorer Type pull-down list box. Select one of the
available choices: Source Route Transparent/Transparent, Source Route
Transparent/ARE, Source Route Transparent/STE, Source Route/ARE,
Source Route/STE, and Transparent/Transparent. The default selection is
Transparent/Transparent.
2. Click on Set to apply the change, or click on Cancel to exit the window without
applying the change.
Duplex Modes
Some of the bridge interfaces on a device will support Full Duplex Switched
Ethernet (FDSE) mode. Enabling full duplex mode on an interface allows the
interface to receive and transmit packets at the same time, effectively doubling the
available bandwidth.
On an Ethernet connection that is not using full duplex mode, the interface can
either transmit or receive packets. The interface has to wait for one activity to be
completed before switching to the next activity (receive or transmit).
Using the full duplex mode allows for faster transmission of packets over
Ethernet connections because the bridging interface can transmit and receive
packets; the interface does not have to wait for one activity to be completed before
switching to the next one.
WARNING
Full Duplex should only be enabled on an interface that has a connection to a single
destination address at the other end of the connection (i.e., it is not a segment with an
attached repeater cascading the connection to multiple destination addresses).
Full Duplex mode disables the collision detection circuitry at the interface, so that both
Transmit and Receive wires can be used simultaneously. With a single destination address
at the other end of the connection (for example, if the connection was to a full duplex
interface on another switching module, or if a single Þle server was connected to the full
duplex switch port), this essentially doubles the available bandwidth from 10 Mbit/sec to
20 Mbit/sec. Note that the interface at the other end of the connection must also have Full
Duplex enabled at the attached interface.
Full Duplex mode must be disabled if the interface is communicating with multiple
destinations simultaneously (i.e., if a repeater is cascaded from the interface), since
Ethernet relies on Collision Sense for proper operation.