Emulated Lan (Elan) Overview - 3Com ATMLINK 155 PCI User Manual

Emulated LAN (ELAN) Overview

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Emulated LAN (ELAN) Overview
The 3Com ATMLink network driver conforms to the
ATM Forum LAN Emulation over ATM Specification 1.0 to
interoperate with legacy LAN networks. LAN emulation
supports the multicast, broadcast, and address resolution
services characteristic of shared media LANs, within the
connection-oriented ATM environment. Four devices are
defined to provide these LAN emulation services:
LAN Emulation Client (LEC) found on all end stations
LAN Emulation Configuration Server (LECS)
LAN Emulation Server (LES)
Broadcast and Unknown Server (BUS)
The 3C975 ATMLink NIC network driver provides the LAN
Emulation Client and supports up to 16 LECs per NIC. Each LEC
configured on an ATMLink NIC is regarded by the network
operating system as a separate (emulated) NIC and receives a
unique MAC address. An "emulated" NIC connects to an
emulated LAN (ELAN). In short, each physical ATMLink NIC can
connect to up to 16 separate ELANs.
The term ELAN is often used to denote an LEC in the 3Com
ATMLink utilities, installation programs, and user guide.
An ELAN is a logical grouping of end stations within an ATM
network. The ATM network administrator creates ELANs when
configuring the ATM switches. Membership in an ELAN is
independent of the physical location of the end station within
the ATM network. An end station can belong to multiple
ELANs simultaneously. Mixed-media edge devices (such as the
®
3Com LinkSwitch 2700 switch) that are connected to ATM
switches enable ATM end stations to interoperate with legacy
LAN end stations, because the legacy LAN end station and the
ATM end station can be members of the same ELAN. This
guide includes configuration procedures that allow an LEC to
join an ELAN.