User's Manual

USING 3COM NETWORK

DIRECTOR ON A MULTI-SITE

NETWORK

Overview This chapter describes how to use 3Com Network Director to discover,

monitor and manage multi-site networks.

This chapter covers the following topics:

■ Key Concepts

■ Components

■ Configuration

■ Examples

■ Useful Information and References

■ Key Considerations

Key Concepts

Multi-Site Networks A multi-site network is a network whose components (for example,

switches, hubs, routers, servers and end stations) are distributed over

multiple sites, which may be geographically separated by large distances,

but are still intended to function together as a single, usually private,

network.

Connectivity between the individual sites of a multi-site network can take

many forms, but usually consists of either dedicated private WAN links,

such as PPP links, or virtual private links running over a public WAN

network, such as VPN tunnels running over the Internet.

Local and Remote Sites

It is common when talking about multi-site networks to distinguish

between the local site and the remote sites. The site where you are