Cabletron Systems SmartSTACK 10 ELS10-26, User Manual

Page: 21 / 116

Introduction
1-11
1.5.3 SmartSTACK 10 ELS10-26 Port Monitoring
Port monitoring allows the SmartSTACK 10 ELS10-26 to redirect
network traffic (including MAC layer errors) from one port to the
port monitoring port (MONX port), in effect “mirroring” all
network traffic to this port. This feature allows users who have
existing investments in external analyzers, external RMON probes,
or devices like Network General's Distributed Sniffer System
TM
to
continue to receive expert analysis and packet decode functions in
a switched environment -- simply use the port mirroring function
to mirror switched traffic to the designated “diagnostic” port to
which the analyzer is attached.
The SmartSTACK 10 ELS10-26 supports local port mirroring.
Local port mirroring is when the diagnostic port is on the same
SmartSTACK 10 ELS10-26 as the mirrored port. The mirrored port
has to be local to the SmartSTACK 10 ELS10-26.
Packet Capturing and Monitoring
Only the 10BASE-T ports on the SmartSTACK 10 ELS10-26 (and
not the 100BASE ports) can be mirrored. The monitoring of
network traffic is performed by the SmartSTACK 10 ELS10-26
hardware.
1.5.4 SmartSTACK 10 ELS10-26 Sample Applications
Just as a six lane highway allows you to travel much faster than a
single lane highway, a network backbone creates high-speed
connections for your network. In general, a network backbone
allows you to distribute access to important network resources
such as file or print servers. Additional SmartSTACK 10 ELS10-26
features, such as trunking, Fast Ethernet, and virtual workgroups
allow you to optimize bandwidth and design a more efficient flow
for your network traffic.