red lion N-Tron Series, Software User Manual

Page: 14 / 146

R
EVISED
2018-09-21 F
EATURES AND
S
PECIFICATIONS
D
RAWING
N
O
. LP0991-G O
VERVIEW OF
A
DVANCED
F
EATURES
N-Tron
®
Series NT24K
®
Software Manual 1-5
1.2.10 N ‐ Ring
®
N-Ring is designed for easy setup. Switches are configured for N-Ring membership, by default. Setting a switch as
the N-Ring Manager is the only required step for enabling the ring as long as preset ports are used to connect ring
members. Subsequently, N-Ring operates dynamically upon each power up. N-Ring technology offers expanded
ring size capacity, detailed fault diagnostics, and a standard healing time of 30ms. The N-Ring Manager
periodically checks the health of the N-Ring via health check packets. If the N-Ring Manager stops receiving the
health check packets, it times-out and converts the N-Ring to a backbone within 30ms. When using all N-Ring
enabled switches in the ring, a detailed ring map and fault location chart is also provided on the N-Ring Manager's
web browser. N-Ring status is also sent from the N-Ring Manager to the N-View OLE for Process Control (OPC)
Server to identify the health status of the ring. Up to 250 N-Ring enabled switches can participate in one N-Ring
topology. Switches that do not have N-Ring capability may be used in an N-Ring, however the ring map and fault
location chart cannot be as detailed at these locations.
1.2.11 Bypass Relay (BR)
BR ports have an internal hardware technology that forces paired BR ports to create a physical connection when
the switch powers down. The BR switch is in bypass mode when it is powered down. This feature allows devices
connected via these ports to continue communicating despite the BR switch being powered down.
Note: BR ports are only supported on select NT24k models. BR-capable equipment is denoted by a "-R" in
the model name. Likewise, BR capable ports are denoted by a "-R" in the port description.
Note: Some port protocols and port properties are not supported or may be affected by BR ports.
1.2.11.1 Affected Port Protocols
802.1x
802.1x security cannot be enabled on BR ports. Allowing this protocol on BR ports will lead to network security
issues when the switch enters bypass mode. Therefore, 802.1x security is not allowed.
N ‐ Link
N-Link Coupler and Control ports cannot be selected on BR ports. If BR ports were utilized for these links, there
would be connection issues upon the switch entering bypass mode. It is also a best practice to ensure that neither
the Master nor Slave Partner ports are connected to a BR port. Unlike the Coupler and Control ports, these ports
are not user configured, but are auto-detected by the N-Link protocol. Use extra care when introducing BR
equipment into an N-Link topology and avoid using BR ports for the N-Link connections.
Traffic physically flows through the relay, but from a logical
standpoint, bypasses the powered down BR switch.
Traffic physically and logically flows through all
switches when the BR switch is powered on.
Bypass Relay
Bypass Relay