D-Link DES-1210G [10/36] Switching technology

DES-1210G Fast Ethernet/Gigabit Ethernet Switch User’s Guide

Switching Technology

Another key development pushing the limits of Ethernet technology is in the field of

switching technology. A switch bridges Ethernet packets at the MAC address level of

the Ethernet protocol transmitting among connected Ethernet or fast Ethernet LAN

segments.

Switching is a cost-effective way of increasing the total network capacity available to

users on a local area network. A switch increases capacity and decreases network

loading by making it possible for a local area network to be divided into different

segments which don’t compete with each other for network transmission capacity, giving

a decreased load on each.

The switch acts as a high-speed selective bridge between the individual segments.

Traffic that needs to go from one segment to another (from one port to another) is

automatically forwarded by the switch, without interfering with any other segments

(ports). This allows the total network capacity to be multiplied, while still maintaining

the same network cabling and adapter cards.

For Fast Ethernet or Gigabit Ethernet networks, a switch is an effective way of

eliminating problems of chaining hubs beyond the “two-repeater limit.” A switch can be

used to split parts of the network into different collision domains, for example, making

it possible to expand your Fast Ethernet network beyond the 205 meter network

diameter limit for 100BASE-TX networks. Switches supporting both traditional 10Mbps

Ethernet and 100Mbps Fast Ethernet are also ideal for bridging between existing

10Mbps networks and new 100Mbps networks.

Switching LAN technology is a marked improvement over the previous generation of

network bridges, which were characterized by higher latencies. Routers have also been

used to segment local area networks, but the cost of a router and the setup and

maintenance required make routers relatively impractical. Today’s switches are an

ideal solution to most kinds of local area network congestion problems.

DES-1210G 10/100/1000 Mbps Stand-alone Switch

General Description of Switch

The DES-1210G Switch module is equipped with eight ports providing dedicated 10 or

100 Mbps bandwidth. These ports can be used for connecting PCs, servers, and hubs.

The eight dual speed ports use standard twisted pair cabling and are ideal for

segmenting networks into small, connected subnets. Each port can support up to 200

Mbps of throughput in full-duplex mode. In addition, the Switch is equipped with two

Gigabit fiber optic uplink ports enabling convenient access to a server or network

backbone for all the clients served by the Switch. This stand-alone Switch enables the

network to use some of the most demanding multimedia and imaging applications

concurrently with other user applications without creating bottlenecks. The built-in

console interface can be used to configure the Switch’s settings for Priority Queuing,

VLAN, and Port Trunk Groups, Port Monitoring and Port Speed.