Enterasys Networks 6H352-25 Half-Duplex/Full-Duplex Auto-Negotiation, SmartTrunk, Introduction

Half-Duplex/Full-Duplex Auto-Negotiation

1.4HALF-DUPLEX/FULL-DUPLEX AUTO-NEGOTIATION

The fixed front panel ports on the 6H352-25 have the ability to auto-negotiate the ports’ mode of operation (half-duplex or full-duplex) between two devices according to the 802.3x standard. During Auto-Negotiation, two devices automatically exchange information “telling” each other their current operating mode. The Auto-Negotiation feature targets the maximum capability that can be reached between the two devices. For example, the 6H352-25 can adjust to full-duplex operation when the device on the other end of the connection can also adjust from half-duplex to full-duplex. If the device on the other end of the connection can only operate in half-duplex mode, then the 6H352-25 simply adjusts to operate in half-duplex mode.

1.5SmartTrunk

Traditional 802.1D Spanning Tree Bridges only allow one active data path between any two switches; all other parallel data paths are in Standby or Blocking mode. If one interface or path should fail, then the other interface automatically comes out of Blocking mode and forwards all of the traffic. This is fine for redundancy purposes. However, it is not the most efficient use of resources.

SmartTrunk, also referred to as SmartTrunking, is Enterasys Networks’ terminology for load balancing or load sharing. SmartTrunk provides the ability to take full advantage of the network’s redundant bandwidth. SmartTrunk divides network traffic across multiple ports in parallel to provide additional throughput. The SmartTrunk application can be used with any of Enterasys Networks’ switch modules (except ATM modules).

For more information about SmartTrunk and how to configure the SmartSwitch, refer to the MATRIX E7 Series and SmartSwitch 6000 Series Modules Local Management User’s Guide.

1.6REMOTE MONITORING (RMON)

The 6H352-25 supports all nine Ethernet RMON groups. The Statistics, Alarms, Events and History groups are enabled on all ports by default.

Enterasys Networks RMON Actions is a vendor-specific extension of RMON and provides the ability to set an “Action” on any SNMP MIB variable. The Action can be triggered by any RMON Event and/or Alarm. An example of an Action would be to turn off a MIB-2 interface if a broadcast threshold is crossed.

1-4Introduction