Cabletron Systems 2H253-25R manual Rate Limiting, Flow Control

Overview

1.1.9Rate Limiting

The Rate Limiting feature enables the SmartSwitch device to control traffic rates on a per-port, per-priority basis. The network administrator can configure a rate limit (from 100 kbps to 1 Gbs) for a given port with an associated list of IEEE 802.1p priorities (which can include one, some, or all of the eight priority levels defined in 802.1p). Each rate limit is specified as an inbound or an outbound limit. The combined rate of all traffic on the port that matches the listed priorities cannot exceed the programmed limit. If the rate exceeds the defined limit, frames are dropped until the rate falls below the limit.

Administrators can configure up to four rate limit rules per port; however, each rule must not include conflicting 802.1p priority values. In order to control traffic inbound and outbound on the same port, two rate limit rules must be configured (one inbound and one outbound). Since the rate limiting operation occurs after the processing of the multi-layer classification rules, the two features can be combined to provide application-aware rate limiting.

NOTE

This traffic rate function is not supported on ports configured as SmartTrunk ports.

For more information about the application of the Traffic Rate function, refer to the SmartSwitch Series 2E253, 2H252, 2H253 and 2H258 Local Management User’s Guide.

1.1.10 Flow Control

Flow control is a method of managing the flow of frames between two devices. It ensures that a transmitting device does not overwhelm a receiving device with data. This is accomplished by the transmitting device pausing its transmission while the receiving device processes the frames already received.

The 2H253-25R supports the following two types of flow control:

•Frame based 802.3x

•Back pressure

Frame based 802.3x flow control is supported on all Ethernet ports operating in the full duplex mode. Flow control can be enabled or disabled on a port-by-port basis.

Back pressure flow control is supported on all Ethernet ports operating in the standard mode of operation. Flow control can be enabled or disabled on a port-by-port basis.

Introduction 1-5