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Magnum 6K32F/FR/FC/FRC Managed Switch Installation and User Guide (07/10)
4.0
OPERATION
This chapter describes the functions and operation of the Magnum 6K32F
Series Switch.
4.1
Switching Functionality
A Magnum 6K32F Series provides switched connectivity at Ethernet wire-
speed among all of its ports. The Magnum 6K32F Series support 10/100Mbs for copper
media and 10 or 100Mb separate traffic domains for fiber ports to maximize bandwidth
utilization and network performance. All ports can communicate to all other ports in a
Magnum 6K32F, but local traffic on a port will not consume any of the bandwidth on
any other port.
Magnum 6K32F Series units are plug-and-play devices. There is no software
configuring necessary to be done for basic operation at installation or for maintenance.
The only hardware configuration settings are user options for an UP-LINK Switch
(resides inside the unit) on the 6KP8-RJ45 (modular port). Optional Half / Full duplex
mode and 10 or 100Mbps selection for the switched ports must be configured through
MNS-6K software per unit as per the requirement. The internal functions of both are
described below.
Filtering and Forwarding
Each time a packet arrives on one of the switched ports, the decision is taken to
either filter or to forward the packet. Packets whose source and destination addresses are
on the same port segment will be filtered, constraining them to that one port and relieving
the rest of the network from having to process them. A packet whose destination address
is on another port segment will be forwarded to the appropriate port, and will not be sent
to the other ports where it is not needed. Traffic needed for maintaining the operation of
the network (such as occasional multi-cast packets) are being forwarded to all ports.
The Magnum 6K32F Series Switches operate in the store-and-forward
switching mode, which eliminates bad packets and enables peak performance to be
achieved when there is heavy traffic on the network.
Address Learning
All Magnum 6K32F Series units have address table capacities of 4K node
addresses suitable for use in larger networks. They are self-learning, so as nodes are
added, removed or moved from one segment to another, the 6K32F Switch automatically
keeps up with node locations.
An address-aging algorithm causes least-used addresses to fall out in favor of
frequently-used addresses. To reset the address buffer, cycle power down-and-up.
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