Specifications

Ethernet Interface Processor (EIP) Installation and Configuration 13

Installation Prerequisites

This section provides a list of parts and tools you will need to perform the installation, and safety

and ESD-prevention guidelines to help you to avoid injury and damage to the equipment. It also

provides a detailed description of the online insertion and removal (OIR) function to help you

perform online installation successfully and avoid error message and system restarts. If you are

installing a new EIP, be sure to review the equipment descriptions and distance limitations in the

section “Ethernet Network Connections” on page 5 when preparing your site and planning network

connections.

Distance Limitations for Ethernet Connections

The maximum distances for Ethernet network segments and connections depend on the type of

transmission cable used: 0.4 diameter coax (10Base5), 0.25-inch diameter coax (10Base2), or

unshielded twisted-pair (10BaseT). The term 10Base5 is an abbreviation for 10-Mbps transmission,

Baseband medium, and a maximum cable length of 500 meters.

Network connections to the coax-type cables are tapped into a network segment and must be spaced

at speciﬁc intervals. The maximum number of connections (taps) per segment and the recommended

intervals at which they must be placed are shown in Table 3. A maximum of four repeaters can be

used to link segments in a single network.

Table 3 Ethernet Coax-Type Connection Limits for 10-Mbps Transmission

The unshielded twisted-pair (UTP) cabling used with 10BaseT is suitable for voice transmission, but

might incur problems transmitting data at 10-Mbps rates. The IEEE recommendations for the

maximum distance between station (connection) and hub is 328 feet (100 meters) for 10BaseT at

10 Mbps.

Caution Some 10BaseT transceivers can connect directly to the ports on the EIP. When planning

network connections, consider the size and placement of the transceivers you plan to attach directly

to the EIP. The high density of connectors on the interface processors might prevent you from being

able to attach transceivers directly without overlapping and possibly impairing access to connectors

on adjacent interface processors.

Parameter 10Base5 10Base2

Cable diameter 1 cm (0.4 in) 0.6 cm (0.25 in)

Maximum segment length 1640 ft (500 m) 500 ft (152 m)

Maximum network length (with 4 repeaters) 8200 ft (2500 m) 2500 ft (762 m)

Maximum connections (taps per segment) 100 30

Minimum connection (tap) spacing 8.2 ft (2.5 m) 1.64 ft (0.5 m)