HP J4818A, Installation And Getting Started Manual

Page: 41 / 88

2-23
Installing the Series 2300 and 2500 Switches
Sample Network Topologies
In
st
a
lli
n
g
t
h
e S
e
ries 2300
and
2500
S
w
it
c
hes
As a Segment Switch
The Series 2300 and 2500 switches also work well as segment switches. That
is, with their high performance, they can be used for interconnecting network
segments—simply connect the network hubs that form those segments to the
switches, or you can also connect other switches.
In the illustration above, two “Fast” Ethernet hubs with PCs, printers, and local
servers attached, are both connected to a Switch 2512. The devices attached
to the two hubs can now communicate with each other through the switch.
They can also all communicate with the server that is connected to the switch
through a 100/1000-T Transceiver installed in the switch.
Because the Series 2300 and 2500 switches have the “HP Auto-MDIX” feature,
the connections between the switch and the hubs, and between the switch
and end nodes or servers can be through category 5 “straight-through” or
“crossover” twisted-pair cable. Category 3 or 4 cable can also be used if the
connection is 10 Mbps only. In all cases, the device ports must be configured
to auto negotiate the link characteristics for this feature to work.
The switch, in turn, can be connected to a network backbone through fiber-
optic cabling connected to a Gigabit-SX/LX transceiver installed in the switch.
Now, all the devices on these network segments can access other network
resources that are connected elsewhere on the network backbone.
Gigabit
fiber-optic cable
to backbone
“Fast”
Ethernet
Hubs
PCs,
printers,
and local
servers
Switch 2512
Server with
“Gigabit”
Ethernet NIC
twisted-pair
“straight-through”
cables to
end nodes
twisted-pair “straight-
through” or “crossover”
cables to hubs
category 5 twisted-pair “straight-through” or
“crossover” cable for 1000 Mbps connection to server
2353-ed2.book Page 23 Friday, February 9, 2001 6:00 PM