D-Link DES-3552 [16/260] Switch description

DES-3550 Fast Ethernet Layer 2 Switch

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 are not competing with each other for network transmission capacity, and therefore decreasing

the load on each segment.

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.

Switch Description

The DES-3550 is equipped with unshielded twisted-pair (UTP) cable ports providing dedicated 10 or 100 Mbps

bandwidth. The Switch has 48 UTP ports and Auto MDI-X/MDI-II convertible ports that can be used for uplinking to

another switch. These ports can be used for connecting PCs, printers, servers, hubs, routers, switches and other networking

devices. The dual speed ports use standard twisted-pair cabling and are ideal for segmenting networks into small,

connected subnetworks for superior performance. Each 10/100 port can support up to 200 Mbps of throughput in full-

duplex mode.

In addition, the Switch has 2 Mini-GBIC combo ports. These two gigabit combo ports are ideal for connecting to a server

or network backbone.

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, VLANs, and port trunk groups, port monitoring, and port speed.