Multilink trunking, Port mirroring (conversation steering), Autosensing, autonegotiation, and autopolarity – Nortel Networks 1000ASE-XD User Manual

Page 39

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Chapter 1 BayStack 420 Switch

39

Using the BayStack 420 10/100/1000 Switch

MultiLink Trunking

The MultiLink Trunking feature allows you to group multiple ports, two to four
together, when forming a link to another switch or server, thus increasing
aggregate throughput of the interconnection between two devices, up to 800 Mb/s
in full-duplex mode. The BayStack 420 Switch can be configured with up to six
MultiLink Trunks in a stack. The trunk members can only be configured within a
single unit in the stack.

For more information about the MultiLink Trunking feature, see

“MultiLink

Trunk Configuration Menu screen” on page 133

.

Port mirroring (conversation steering)

The port mirroring feature (sometimes referred to as conversation steering) allows
you to designate a single switch port as a traffic monitor for a specified port. You
can specify port-based monitoring for ingress to a specific port. You can also
attach a probe device (such as a Nortel Networks StackProbe, or equivalent) to the
designated monitor port.

For more information about the port mirroring feature, see

“Port Mirroring

Configuration screen” on page 139

.

Autosensing, autonegotiation, and autopolarity

The BayStack 420 switches are autosensing and autonegotiating devices:

The term autosense refers to a port’s ability to sense the speed of an attached
device.

The term autonegotiation refers to a standardized protocol (IEEE 802.3u) that
exists between two IEEE 802.3u-capable devices. Autonegotiation allows the
switch to select the best of both speed and duplex modes.

The term autopolarity refers to automatic detection of transmit and receive
twisted pairs.

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