3 C O M
®
N J 2 0 0 N E T W O R K J A C K — V L A N S & T R A F F I C P R I O R I T I Z AT I O N
IT staff can use VLANs to partition traffic streams into easily manageable and securable
groups. Automated traffic prioritization can significantly improve network and applica-
tion performance, particularly for time-sensitive transmissions such as voice and video.
The following scenario, while fictional, demonstrates how these two advanced switch-
ing features can solve real-world problems and deliver significant time and cost savings.
In an effort to converge and consolidate, a large aerospace corporation had successfully
migrated business-critical resources onto the network. The core switching infrastructure
was upgraded, DSL Internet router installed, and PSTN phones were replaced by a VoIP
telephony system.
News of an upcoming satellite launch sent draftpersons and engineers dashing to their
desktops to watch via the live webcast. All this Internet traffic sent network loads soar-
ing—creating access bottlenecks and slowing application response. In particular, a
telephone conference with a trans-Pacific client suffered in quality and usability. The
meeting ended up being postponed until the next day, a 24-hour delay that cost the
company many thousands of dollars.
This disaster might have been avoided if IT staff had installed 3Com NJ200 Network
Jacks in all offices and conference rooms as part of the infrastructure upgrade. Using
port-based VLANs, all VoIP transmissions could have been directed through their own
subnet, regardless of what conference room was being used. In addition, the Default
Priority Level could be set to recognize the IEEE priority tag for VoIP (value = 6), which
would help ensure that this extremely time-sensitive traffic gets preference over stream-
ing video (value = 4).
12
Business Application
For More Information
3Com NJ200 Network Jacks work in almost any network environment—including
small-office or enterprise businesses, government offices, dormitories, hospitals, school
classrooms, universities, laboratories, public kiosks, conference rooms, and shared office
spaces.
For more information on how these managed “in the wall” switches can resolve common
networking problems and significantly lower IT costs, please visit
www.3com.com/networkjack
.
