Brocade Communications Systems VDX 6940 Series, Hardware Installation Manual, Page: 72 / 136

CAUTION
Before plugging a cable into to any port, be sure to discharge the voltage stored on the cable
by touching the electrical contacts to ground surface.
Ethernet or Fast Ethernet hubs
For copper connections to Ethernet hubs, a 1000Base-T device, or another Brocade device, a
crossover cable is required. If the hub is equipped with an uplink port, it requires a straight-through
cable instead of a crossover cable.
NOTE
The 802.3ab standard (automatic MDI or MDIX detection) calls for automatic negotiation of the
connection between two 1000Base-T ports. Therefore, a crossover cable may not be required; a
straight-through cable may work as well.
Workstations, servers, or routers
Straight-through UTP cabling is required for direct UTP attachment to workstations, servers, or routers
using network interface cards (NICs).
Fiber cabling is required for direct attachment to Gigabit NICs or switches and routers through fiber
ports.
Network device
For direct attachment from the Brocade device to a Gigabit NIC, switch, or router, you can use either a
fiber cabling with an LC connector or a copper cable with an RJ-45 connector.
Testing connectivity
After you install the network cables, you can test network connectivity to other devices by observing
the LEDs related to network connection and performing trace routes. Refer to the LED patterns section
of this guide for a description of the port states.
Ethernet or Fast Ethernet hubs
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