QSC Audio S series - Manual (Page 26)

26
There are a number of ways to design a CobraNet LAN. Sev-
eral resources such as device specifications, Architect &
Engineer’s specifications, topology references, lists of ap-
proved network hardware and design guidelines are avail-
able on the Peak Audio website (www.peakaudio.com). Addi-
tionally, QSC Audio Products’ website (www.qscaudio.com)
posts up-to-date information on applications specific to RAVE
and provides links to related resources. It is recommended
that these resources be referred to before designing a Cobra-
Net LAN. We offer the following general guidelines:
Network Design Considerations:
General Info and Switched Networks
Sample switched network showing a managed CobraNet LAN
SWITCHED NETWORKS
• RAVE supports operation on 10/100 Mbps network
switches. Switch ports must auto-negotiate their link with
RAVE. The CobraNet portion of the LAN must consist only
of switches such that all RAVEs are connected directly to
an independent port on the switch. Non-CobraNet network
devices, such as network Management consoles, may con-
nect to a switched LAN by way of a network repeater.
Switches may be static “simple” switches or managed
switches. Simple switches are much like traditional port
bridges in that each port is its own 10/100 Mbps collision
domain but the entire switch consists of a single broad-
cast domain. With these types of switches, multiple LANs
or Virtual LANs (VLANs) are not supported and any broad-
cast frames or packets are available at all ports. In con-
trast, managed switches may allow configuration of VLANs,
partitioning, packet filtering, and may support a number of
features with the use of industry standard protocols. The
actual feature support available depends on the switch
model.