Compaq SW3322, SW3324, SW3323 manual Auto-negotiation, Broadcast Throttling, BootP/DHCP

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Auto-negotiation

Auto-negotiation is a process that permits the switch to automatically select the operational modes of its ports. Upon first being connected, the switch detects the speed of the connected network to the port, either 10Mb/s or 100Mb/s. In addition, the switch detects the type of communication setting, half or full duplex. The port is then automatically set by the switch to operate in the proper mode, without user intervention. It is not required that the network device to be connected to the switch support auto-negotiation as the switch automatically adjusts to the network device’s communication settings. Auto-negotiation is configurable in the Port Configuration Menu of the console menus or via SNMP.

Broadcast Throttling

Broadcast throttling is the capability of the switch to limit the number of packets that are flooded to all ports on the switch. Broadcast, multicast, and unknown destination address unicast packets are typically flooded to all ports of a switch or a VLAN. When the number of these types of packets being forwarded through the switch is large, the performance of the switch can suffer greatly. A programmable broadcast cutoff rate parameter allows a rate threshold to be set in the switch for the forwarding of broadcast and unknown destination address packets. If the cutoff rate is exceeded, further packets of these types are dropped. Broadcast throttling is configurable in the Switch Configuration menu of the console menus or via SNMP.

NOTE: The threshold on the rate of broadcast is set for the switch on a global basis.

BootP/DHCP

The Bootstrap Protocol (BootP) and the Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) provide for the capability of passing configuration information to hosts on a TCP/IP network. Using this process, network devices do not need to be configured before they can communicate using the TCP/IP protocol suite. The switch uses BootP and DHCP to automatically configure IP address information without requiring access to the console menus. BootP/DHCP operation is configurable using the BootP/DHCP Enable option in the System Configuration Menu of the console menus or via SNMP.

Compaq SW3322/SW3323/SW3324 Dual-Speed Switch User Guide