1-4
S
UMMIT
S
WITCH
I
NSTALLATION
AND
U
SER
G
UIDE
S
UMMIT
O
VERVIEW
F
ULL
-
DUPLEX
The Summit Switch provides full-duplex support for all ports. Full-duplex allows
frames to be transmitted and received simultaneously and, in effect, doubles the
bandwidth available on a link. All 10/100 Mbps ports on the Summit autonegotiate for
half- or full-duplex operation.
P
ORT
R
EDUNDANCY
The Summit2 has an optional redundant Gigabit Ethernet port. Using the redundant
port, you can dual-home the Summit2 to one or two Switches.
Figure 1-3
illustrates a
Summit2 dual-homed to two different Switches.
Figure 1-3: Dual-homing configuration
In the event that the active port fails or loses link status, the redundant port is
automatically activated. When the primary port resumes operation, the redundant port
becomes inactive. The redundant port cannot be used for load sharing.
V
IRTUAL
LAN
S
(VLAN
S
)
The Summit has a VLAN feature that enables you to construct your broadcast domains
without being restricted by physical connections. Up to 255 VLANs can be deÞned on
the Summit. A VLAN is a group of location- and topology-independent devices that
communicate as if they were on the same physical local area network (LAN).
Implementing VLANs on your network has the following three advantages:
Dual-homed
Backup
Active
SUMMIT.BK Page 4 Thursday, September 25, 1997 12:33 PM
