Installation guide

Link Aggregation
2-2 Network Requirements
Link Aggregation
LinkAggregationisamethodofgroupingmultiplephysicalportsonanetworkdevice
intoonelogicallinkaccordingtotheIEEE802.3ad‐2002standard.BecauseLink
Aggregationisstandardsbased,itallowsforautomaticconfigurationwithmanual
overrides(ifapplicable),andcanoperateon10Mbps,100Mbps,or1000
MbpsEthernet
fullduplexports.Thusthenetworkadministratorcancombineagroupoffive100Mbp s
portsintoalogicallink(trunk)thatfunctionsasasingle500Mbpsport.Aslongasthe
DFEmodulesagreeonwhichportsareinthetrunk,therearenoproblemswith
looping,
andtheSpanningTreecantreatthistrunkasasingleport.
Innormalusage(andtypicalimplementations)thereisnoneedtoenable/disableportsfor
LinkAggregation.Thedefaultvalueswillresultinthemaximumnumberofaggregations
possible.Iftheswitchisplacedinaconfigurationwithits
peersnotrunningtheprotocol,
noaggregationswillbeformedandtheDFEmoduleswillfunctionnormally(thatis,
SpanningTreewillblockredundantpaths).
FordetailsaboutthecommandsinvolvedwithconfiguringtheLinkAggregation
function,refertotheEnterasysMatrixDFE‐PlatinumSeriesConfigurationGuide.
10BASE-T Network
Whenconnectinga10BASE‐TsegmenttoanyoftheRJ45fixedfront‐panelportsofthe
7G4285‐49or7G4205‐72,ensurethatthenetworkmeetstheEthernetnetwork
requirementsoftheIEEE 802.3‐2 002standardfor10BASE‐Tand802.3af‐2003standardfor
PoweroverEthernet(PoE)powersourcingapplications
overEthernetcabling.Formore
informationaboutPoE,refertoAppendix C.
Note: If a port is to operate at 100 or 1000 Mbps, Category 5 cabling must be used.
Category 3 cabling does not meet 100 Mbps specifications. For 10 Mbps operation only,
Category 3 or Category 5 cabling can be used. Refer to the “100BASE-TX Network” on
page 2-3 for information about 100BASE-TX networks and cabling.