Chapter 1 Introducing the Cisco Wide Area Application Engine
Hardware Features
1-18
Cisco Wide Area Application Engine 512 and 612 Hardware Installation Guide
OL-9137-02
If you are connecting a WAE inline appliance between two devices using Gigabit
Ethernet, you can use either straight-through cables, crossover cables, or any
combination of the two cable types, regardless of the type of device. However, for
consistency, we recommend that you use straight-through cables for all Gigabit
Ethernet connections.
Table 1-8
shows the cable requirements for WAE and non-WAE connections when
you are using Gigabit Ethernet end to end.
Table 1-8
Cable Requirements for WAE Connections Using Gigabit
Ethernet
Connection
Required Cable
Switch to switch (no WAE)
Crossover or Straight-through
Switch to router (no WAE)
Crossover or Straight-through
Router to router (no WAE)
Crossover or Straight-through
Switch to WAE and
WAE to Router
Crossover or Straight-through
Crossover or Straight-through
Switch to WAE and
WAE to Switch
Crossover or Straight-through
Crossover or Straight-through
Router to WAE and
WAE to Router
Crossover or Straight-through
Crossover or Straight-through
WAE to WAE
Crossover or Straight-through
Some switches support automatic medium-dependent interface crossover
(MDIX). You can configure MDIX by using the
mdix auto
global
configuration
switch command. If your switch supports MDIX, you do not need to follow these
cabling rules because MDIX automatically adjusts transmit and receive pairs
when an incorrect cable type (crossover or straight-through) is installed on a
10/100 Fast Ethernet port. However, when you configure MDIX, you must also
configure the port to use autosense (not manual selection of speed/duplex).
Caution
If you are connecting to Fast Ethernet ports on both the LAN and the WAN sides
of the WAE inline appliance, you must consider the types of devices that are being
connected, and you must use the correct cables. You must follow these cabling