Magnum 4K220 Switches Installation and User Guide (10/04)
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4.0 OPERATION
This chapter describes the functions and operation of the 4K-Series.
4.1 Switching
Functionality
Magnum 4K-Series units provide switched connectivity at Ethernet wire-
speed among all of its ports simultaneously. They support 10/100Mbs for copper media
and 100Mb for fiber ports to maximize bandwidth utilization and network performance.
All ports can communicate to all other ports in a Magnum 4K-Series, but local segment
traffic on a port will not consume any of the bandwidth on any other port.
Magnum 4K-Series units are plug-and-play devices. There is no software
configuring to be done at installation or for maintenance. The only hardware
configuration settings are user options for UP-LINK on RJ-45 port. The internal
functions of both are described below.
Filtering and Forwarding
Each time a packet arrives on one of the switched ports, the decision is taken
to either filter or to forward the packet. Packets whose source and destination addresses
are on the same port segment will be filtered, constraining them to that one port and
relieving the rest of the network from processing them. A packet whose destination
address is on another port segment will be forwarded to the appropriate port, and will
not be sent to the other ports where it is not needed. Traffic needed for maintaining the
operation of the network (such as occasional multi-cast packets) is forwarded to all
ports.
The Magnum 4K-Series Switches operate in the store-and-forward switching
mode, which eliminates bad packets and enables peak performance to be achieved when
there is heavy traffic on the network.
Address Learning
All
40-port
Magnum 4K-Series units have address table capacity of 4K node
addresses, suitable for use in large networks. They are self-learning, so that as nodes are
added or removed or moved from one port / segment to another, the 4K220 Switch
automatically keeps up with node locations.
An address-aging algorithm causes least-used addresses to fall out of the
address buffer in favor of new and frequently-used addresses. To reset the address
buffer, cycle power down-and-up.
