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CrossFire 8600/860 5 Token-Ring Switches v. 1. 2, P/N: 710001641 Overview and Specifica tions
Switch of Floors and Buildings
For network managers, multistorey bui ldi ngs an d campus es c an rep resent a uni que
networking challenge. How can a network manager provide an efficient LAN
interconnect for users that are located on seve ral floo rs of a bui ldi ng or in diffe rent
buildings?
Token-Ring switching and the CrossFire product family can provide the best
solution. The CrossFire 8600 and the CrossFire 8605 provide enhanced throughp ut
to local wiring closets that can be connected to a switch located in the data center.
Many networks consist of users located in different buildings of a campus
environment. The switches can be used as a collapsed backbone interconnecting
multiple buildings of a campus. They can provide the connectivity solution and
enhanced throughput that such campus environments require.
Switch of Routers
Router technology has had a significant impact on the design of today’s
internetworks. Routers have become the cor nerst one of most pro duct ion ne tworks.
Although well equipped to provide firewall, WAN connectivity, security, and
connection between dissimilar LANs, routers are unable to provid e high throughput
between desktop devices and servers. Because of these limitations, routers and
switches perform complimentary functions in the network.
The CrossFire 8600 and the CrossFire 8605 can be us ed as a front -end to rout ers t o
increase performance in each subnet. Communication between local clients and
servers is enhanced at the workgroup level below the router.
The switches can also be used to back-end routers. In networks were many routers
are interconnected over Token-Ring and backbone performance is not acceptable,
the switches provide non-blocking communication between the routers for
enhanced network performance. This provides protocol trans parency with
enhanced throughput in each subnet between local servers and desktops, thus
allowing network managers to build logical networks as large as network layer
protocol and broadcast traffic allow.
The SwitchProbe (Switched Port Analyzer) also gives a collapsed backbone
network superior network management and the ability to per form protocol analysis
from a single location. The Switc hProbe (S witc h Port Analy zer) p rovi des the l at est
technology for monitoring switch-based networks and helps to reduce the cost of
managing the se ne t works.