Chapter 3 – Configuring the Ports
Port Configuration Menu
The Configure Port Parameters Command will provide a summary of the
settings of all ports. Selecting a particular port and pressing enter will allow you to
configure that port.
Figure 13: Port Parameters Menu

Name

A mnemonic name used to identify the device connected on the port.

Status

Disabling a port will prevent all frames from being sent and received on that port.
Link integrity pulses are not sent while the port is disabled and the link/activity
LED will never be lit. You may want to disable a port for troubleshooting, to
reduce power consumption or to secure it from unauthorized connections.

Media Type

Selects the speed and duplex of the port. Choosing “Auto Select” results in speed
and duplex being negotiated upon link detection; both end devices must be
autonegotiation compliant (802.3u) for the best possible results. As fiber optic
media do not support “Auto Select”, these media must be explicitly configured to
either half or full duplex.

Note:

If one end of the link is fixed to a specific speed and duplex type and the peer
autonegotiates, there is a strong possibility that the link will either fail to raise, or raise with the
wrong settings on the autonegotiating side.
Most often the autonegotiating peer will fall back to half-duplex operation, even when the fixed
side is full duplex. Full duplex operation requires that both ends are configured as such or else
severe frame loss will occur during heavy network traffic. At lower traffic volumes the link may
display few if any errors. As the traffic volume rises the fixed negotiation side will begin to
experience dropped packets while the autonegotiating side will experience excessive collisions.
Ultimately, as traffic load approaches 100% the link will become entirely unusable.
These problems can be avoided by always configuring ports to the appropriate fixed values.
My Switch Port Parameters Admin Access
Port 16
Name My Port Name
Status Enabled
Media Type Auto Select
Flow Control Enabled
FEFI Disabled
Link Alarms Enabled
<CTRL> Z-Help S-Shell
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