SMC Networks SMC8624/48T manual Introduction

INTRODUCTION

Virtual LANs – The switch supports up to 255 VLANs. A Virtual LAN is a collection of network nodes that share the same collision domain regardless of their physical location or connection point in the network. The switch supports tagged VLANs based on the IEEE 802.1Q standard. Members of VLAN groups can be dynamically learned via GVRP, or ports can be manually assigned to a specific set of VLANs. This allows the switch to restrict traffic to the VLAN groups to which a user has been assigned. By segmenting your network into VLANs, you can:

•Eliminate broadcast storms which severely degrade performance in a flat network.

•Simplify network management for node changes/moves by remotely configuring VLAN membership for any port, rather than having to manually change the network connection.

•Provide data security by restricting all traffic to the originating VLAN.

•Use private VLANs to restrict traffic to pass only between data ports and the uplink ports, thereby isolating adjacent ports within the same VLAN, and allowing you to limit the total number of VLANs that need to be configured.

Traffic Prioritization – This switch prioritizes each packet based on the required level of service, using four priority queues with strict or Weighted Round Robin Queuing. It uses IEEE 802.1p and 802.1Q tags to prioritize incoming traffic based on input from the end-station application. These functions can be used to provide independent priorities for delay-sensitive data and best-effort data.

This switch also supports several common methods of prioritizing layer 3/ 4 traffic to meet application requirements. Traffic can be prioritized based on the priority bits in the IP frame’s Type of Service (ToS) octet. When these services are enabled, the priorities are mapped to a Class of Service value by the switch, and the traffic then sent to the corresponding output queue.

Multicast Filtering – Specific multicast traffic can be assigned to its own VLAN to ensure that it does not interfere with normal network traffic and to guarantee real-time delivery by setting the required priority level for the designated VLAN. The switch uses IGMP Snooping and Query to manage multicast group registration.

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