3Com LINKBUILDER 3C18500, User Manual

Page: 139 / 242

Token Rings within the MSH Chassis 9 - 7
DUA1850-0AAA05
Figure 9-4 RingBuilders Providing Two Rings
The actual number of MAUs and bridges that can be connected by a
RingBuilder is governed by the number of slots in the MSH chassis. For
example, in an MSH managed chassis, the RingBuilder Module and
management module will occupy two slots leaving nine slots for MAUs
and bridge modules.
MAC and MAC Addresses
When configuring RingBuilders it is important to understand the role
played by the MACs that are installed on the RingBuilder. A MAC
(Media Access Control) is the means by which frames are received and
transmitted onto the token ring.
Each RingBuilder has at least one MAC device (MAC1) which collects
statistics and may be used to pass management frames between the
management module in the chassis and the RingBuilder’s token ring.
MAC1 is always connected to the RingBuilder’s local ring section.
However, if the Ring-In and Ring-Out ports of the RingBuilder are both
wrapped (see “ Using the RingBuilder Ring-In/Ring-Out Ports. ” on
page 9-17 ), MAC1 will not be connected to the external Main Ring.