Key Benefits - 3Com 5500-EI Datasheet

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KEY BENEFITS

(CONTINUED)
HIGH AVAILABILITY FOR CRITICAL APPLICATIONS
XRN technology, a 3Com innovation, enables multiple interconnected
and stackable Layer 3 switches to be managed as a single entity. Stack
and switching fabric setup is automated and provides a high level of
resiliency and continuous availability without adding to network
complexity. After configuration, all switches actively share routing
intelligence and network loads—eliminating the wasted bandwidth and
added expense of a passive standby unit. Ultra-fast failover recovery
automatically redistributes traffic among the other active units in case
a switch becomes disconnected or fails.
MULTILAYER SECURITY
The Switch 5500 family provides integrated and distributed security
enforcement that can be managed from a central location. Access control
lists (ACLs) help protect network resources from unauthorized access
and data corruption. User-based authentication and DES 56/168-bit
encryption help secure Layer 3 protocols and management controls
such as SSH v2 and SNMP. IEEE 802.1X RADIUS/TACACS+ network
login and RADIUS Authenticated Device Access (RADA) enforce access
control at the network edge.
FLEXIBLE, SECURE FIBER CONNECTIONS
The Switch 5500-EI FX is ideally suited for applications where security
is of paramount importance, or where long cable runs are required.
This switch provides connections on fiber infrastructures that are
almost impervious to electronic eavesdropping because they use optical
transmission. The switch uses 100BASE-X SFP transceivers for its 24
10/100 connections, providing the flexibility of running any mix of
100BASE-FX multimode fiber (up to 2 km/1.2 miles) or 100BASE-LX10
single-mode fiber (up to 10 km/6.2 miles). Plus, the Switch 5500-EI FX
supports all the advanced EI features.
PRIORITY FOR CONVERGED BUSINESS TRAFFIC
Next-generation traffic prioritization features—including advanced
policy-based Class of Service/Quality of Service (CoS/QoS), eight priority
queues, committed access rates, bandwidth limiting and filtering and
more—identify and optimize delay-sensitive traffic such as voice and
video. To help assure this optimization, switches can be configured to
automatically isolate voice traffic from 3Com and other IP telephony
systems within a voice-dedicated VLAN.
UNIQUE AC/DC POWERED OPERATION
3Com Switch 5500 products are the first stackable switches to support
multiple power schemes right out of the box, with a choice of AC, AC
and DC, or DC operation. Some EI models also support IEEE 802.3af
PoE, enabling power to be injected out to the edge of the network
without the need to install additional wires or upgrade existing power
supplies. An available Redundant Power System can provide supple-
mental N+1 power across all PoE ports in the system.
† 168-bit encryption not available in all countries. Refer to www.3com.com for details.
3COM SWITCH 5500 10/100 FAMILY
®
†