Getting Started — The Basics
10
Getting Started — Omega
ATI’s Omega management software is pre-installed and immediately
operational once power is applied. Configuring your network depends,
however, upon the requirements of your particular environment.
Your switch can operate either standalone when the backbone port is not
connected to an ATM network — or as an Ethernet switch/ATM Emulated
LAN when the backbone port is connected to an ATM network and
functioning.
Omega management enables you to access and configure your switch to
ELANs — with or without a network accessible LECS.
That is, prior to Release 2.4, an “ATMcentric” design mandated that before
switching any packets on the Ethernet ports, the switch HAD to use the
LECS to connect to, and maintain, an ELAN. Further, if the connection to
the ELAN was dropped for any reason, then any device communicating on
that ELAN would cease to operate.
In short, prior to this release, given that a standalone switch would not know
which ELAN to join, it followed that, if the LECS was not available, it was
neither possible to configure devices nor forward packets.
Further, the “downing” of an ELAN (the LES is inoperative) and the
subsequent change in the network topology, would force the switch to
reconfigure.
Release 2.4 addresses, and resolves, these issues by providing an alternative
to LECS address determination. Your switch now has the ability to perform
local Ethernet forwarding for devices when the LECS is unavailable, the
LES for an ELAN is unavailable, the ATM 4002 card is not present, or even if
the ATM fiber connection is not present. All that is required is that you
activate the
Port to ELAN configuration
screen (from the
LAN
emulation
submenu), and configure your user-designated ports to
“FIXED.” This process is discussed later.
Remember, however, that AT-S13, v2.4 software, still maintains the ability to
configure devices/ports through the LECS.
