Cabletron Systems STS16-20R, STS16-20D manual Deployment Scenarios

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Deployment Scenarios

SmartStack STS16-20D/STS16-20R includes a built-in stacker link. To create a stack of SmartStack STS16-20x switches you can use any switch in this series as an interface point for the stack. To do this, you use either a SmartStack STS-8SU Stacker Unit or a SmartStack STS-5SU Stacker Unit. Using the stacker link and an appropriate stacker unit it is possible to build a large switch stack combining several ports on one switch with ports on one or more other several SmartStack STS16-20x switches. You can use the expansion module slots of the SmartStack STS16-20RM/STS16-20FRM to get ATM, High-Speed Token-Ring as well as Fast Ethernet Translational Switching connectivity for the whole stack including the SmartStack STS16-20D/STS16-20R.

You can use all the ports in the stack as one switched ring (a single CRF), or should your network design call for it, allocate ports on to different rings. The SmartStack STS16-20D/STS16-20R provides all the flexibility of the SmartStack STS16- 20RM/STS16-20FRM with respect to defining switched rings (CRFs) and bridges (BRFs).

Figure 15 shows a scenario using a stacker links and a switch stacker unit.

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Several ports on SmartStack STS16-20RM are combined with ports on the SmartStack STS16-20D/STS16-20R to create a switched ring.

Ports on SmartStack STS16-20D/STS16-20R are intended for users who need the dedicated bandwidth and for file servers while SmartStack STS16-20RM/ STS16-20FRM supports shared media Token Rings in a transition period and extends the backbone Token Ring using fiber.

An alternative way of migrating shared rings to switched rings is to use existing cables as connections between SmartStack STS16-20RM and SmartStack STS16- 20D/STS16-20R. In this way, the distance limitations of the stack solution are bypassed and the ring is geographically extended to cover more than one wiring closet. A network port (ports 1 to 20 on SmartStack STS16-20R and ports 17 to 20 on SmartStack STS16-20D) can be used to connect two switches from the SmartStack STS16-20RM family together using existing cables. In order to increase the resilience of the network you can connect the SmartStack STS16-20D/ STS16-20R to two different switches from the SmartStack STS16-20x family that use multiple network ports.

Preparing for Installation SmartStack STS16-20D/STS16-20R Token Ring Switches Installation and User Guide