Black Box 5000 - Manual (Page 252)

Multiserver 5000
250
DSR Control
When configuring sync channels, note that the
Forced On option of the DSR Control Menu forces
DSR on (high) all the time rather than following
the local DTR.
COMPATIBILITY between Phase 2.5 and Phase 3.0
(Mixed Network) In a mixed Phase network, the
Phase 2.5 feature set will rule (least feature set). For
instance, voice/fax switching and the new sync
protocols (RTS/CTS and Sync-Pad) will not be
supported in the Phase 2.5 section of the network.
In a mixed network, Phase 3.0 units should not have
feeder muxes attached. The Phase 2.5 software does
not recognize feeder muxes on Phase 3.0 Marathon
units. To resolve this, either upgrade the Phase 2.5
units to Phase 3.0 or use Marathon 1K units instead
of feeder muxes on the Phase 3.0 Marathon units.
NETMan does not support Phase 2.5 Marathon
units or feeder muxes attached to a Phase 2.5
Marathon. NETMan cannot access the network via a
Phase 2.5 Marathon.
PHASE 3.0 FEATURES
Marathon 10K
This is a new member of the Marathon product
family. The Marathon 10K is MICOM’s switching
hub product, capable of supporting networks of up
to 254 nodes. With the Marathon 10K, users can
install a network with hundreds of data and voice
channels.
Dual Link Load Balancing
In a point-to-point application, Marathon 5K units
can be config- ured with dual links. Load Balancing
allows data to be assigned to a specific link on a per
packet basis dependent on the load of each link. In
the event of a single link failure, all traffic is auto-
matically rerouted over the other link.
Multiple Interconnect Links
Marathon Phase 3.0 software allows a network of up
to 254 nodes using multiple interconnect links on
the Marathon 5K. This new feature means
Marathon now offers, String and distributed star
network topologies Point-to-point dual links (with
load balancing) Three Interconnect Links
Marathon 1K feeder capability
Voice/Fax Switching
Voice/fax switching allows a caller to access another
telephone or fax machine by dialing a
preconfigured extension number. Con- nections
can be made within a local Marathon unit or across
the network to any compatible voice/fax channel.
This option re- quires a Phase 3.0 FEATUREPAK in
the Marathon unit, and the new switching voice
PROMs and PAL in the voice/fax module.
Multiport Bridging
The Remote LAN Bridge (RLB) for the Marathon
supports multi- port bridging by allowing more than
two LANs to be interconnect- ed over a Marathon
wide area network. A new network cluster feature
allows up to twelve RLBs to form a virtual LAN
network. Multiple clusters may be interconnected
over an Ethernet back- bone. However, an RLB may
belong to only one defined cluster. This feature
permits the user to configure small and large LANs
which may be segmented by protocol type for
increased perfor- mance security and route
optimization. This feature is scheduled for release
in June 1993.