GarrettCom 6K32TRC Operation, Switching Functionality, Filtering and Forwarding, Address Learning

Magnum 6K32T & 6K32TRC Managed Switch Installation and User Guide 05/07)

4.0OPERATION

This chapter describes the functions and operation of the Magnum 6K32T & 6K32TRC Switch.

4.1Switching Functionality

A Magnum 6K32T & 6K32TRC provides switched connectivity at Ethernet

wire-speed among all of its ports. The Magnum 6K32T & 6K32TRC support 10/100Mbs for copper media and 10 or 100Mb separate traffic domains for fiber ports to maximize bandwidth utilization and network performance. All ports can communicate to all other ports in a Magnum 6K32T & 6K32TRC, but local traffic on a port will not consume any of the bandwidth on any other port.

Magnum 6K32T & 6K32TRC units are plug-and-play devices. There is no software configuring necessary to be done for basic operation at installation or for maintenance. The only hardware configuration settings are user options for an UP-LINK Switch (resides inside the unit) on the 6K8-RJ45 (modular port). Optional Half / Full duplex mode and 10 or 100Mbps selection for the switched ports must be configured through MNS-6K software per unit as per the requirement. The internal functions of both are described below.

Filtering and Forwarding

Each time a packet arrives on one of the switched ports, the decision is taken to either filter or to forward the packet. Packets whose source and destination addresses are on the same port segment will be filtered, constraining them to that one port and relieving the rest of the network from having to process them. A packet whose destination address is on another port segment will be forwarded to the appropriate port, and will not be sent to the other ports where it is not needed. Traffic needed for maintaining the operation of the network (such as occasional multi-cast packets) are being forwarded to all ports.

The Magnum 6K32T & 6K32TRC Switches operate in the store-and-forward switching mode, which eliminates bad packets and enables peak performance to be achieved when there is heavy traffic on the network.

Address Learning

All Magnum 6K32T & 6K32TRC units have address table capacities of 4K node addresses suitable for use in larger networks. They are self-learning, so as nodes are added, removed or moved from one segment to another, the 6K32T & 6K32TRC Switch automatically keeps up with node locations.

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