Mixed Lan Operation - 3Com PathBuilder S200 Series Owner's Manual

Mixed LAN Operation

Mixed LAN Operation
Overview
Mixed LAN
Environment
Limitations
114
PathBuilder S24x, 26x, and 27x switches support a mixture of Token Ring and
Ethernet interfaces configured on the same node. This means the PathBuilder S24x,
26x, and 27x switch is able to perform remote Transparent bridging for Ethernet
LANs and remote Source Route Bridging from the same PathBuilder S24x, 26x, and
27x switch, as shown in Figure 54.
Ethernet 1
Port 13
PB S200
Port 19
Ethernet 2
Figure 54. Example of Mixed LAN Bridging in PathBuilder S24x, 26x,
and 27x Switch
These limitations apply when you perform Mixed LAN bridging in a PathBuilder
S24x, 26x, and 27x switch:
• The PathBuilder S24x, 26x, and 27x switch is limited to only one Spanning
Tree Entity (SPTE) per node. If you perform automatic spanning tree in a
Mixed LAN implementation, SPTE may prohibit traffic from passing between
LANs by blocking some bridge links to avoid bridge looping.
• You must install Release 4.90 or above operating software on all PathBuilder
S24x, 26x, and 27x switches in your network to perform Mixed LAN opera-
tion on any node in the network. If you have a mixture of nodes running ear-
lier operating software releases, mixed LAN operation will cause node
crashes. A PathBuilder S24x, 26x, and 27x switch used as a router and config-
ured for Mixed LAN operation is not impacted by this limitation.
WAN
PB S200
Ethernet 1
Ethernet 2
Bridging