Dell OptiPlex Gxi - Manual (Page 50)

4-2 Dell OptiPlex GXi Mini Tower Systems Reference and Installation Guide
N
IC
Your computer has an integrated 10/100-megabit per
second (Mbps) 3Com Peripheral Component Inter-
connect (PCI) 3C905 network interface controller (NIC).
The NIC provides all the functions normally provided by
a separate network expansion card.
Your system contains either a 100Base-TX or
100Base-T4 NIC daughter board, depending on your
network cabling requirements. Both NIC daughter boards
support the 10Base-T Ethernet standard. To distinguish
the two boards, the letters T4 appear in the upper-right
corner of the 100Base-T4 board, as shown in
Figure 6-14.
The NIC connector on the computer’s back panel has the
following indicators (see Figure 4-1):
• A yellow activity indicator flashes when the system
is transmitting or receiving network data. (A high
volume of network traffic may make this indicator
appear to be in a steady “on” state.)
• A green link integrity indicator lights up when there
is a good connection between the network and the
NIC. When the green indicator is off, the computer is
not detecting a physical connection to the network.
Network Cable Requirements
Your computer’s NIC connector (an RJ45 connector
located on the back panel) is designed for attaching an
unshielded twisted pair (UTP) Ethernet cable. Press one
end of the UTP cable into the NIC connector until the
cable snaps securely into place.
Connect the other end of the cable to an RJ45 jack wall
plate or to an RJ45 port on a UTP concentrator or hub,
depending on your network configuration. Observe
the following cabling restrictions for 10Base-T,
100Base-TX, and 100Base-T4 networks.
• For 10Base-T and 100Base-T4 networks, use Cate-
gory 3 or greater wiring and connectors.
• For 100Base-TX networks, Category 5 wiring and
connections must be used.
• The maximum cable run length (from a workstation
to a concentrator) is 328 feet (ft) (100 meters [m]).
• The maximum number of workstations (not counting
concentrators) on a network is 1024.
• For 10Base-T networks, the maximum number of
daisy-chained concentrators on one network segment
is four.
Figure 4-1. I/O Ports and Connectors
CAUTION: 100Base-T4 uses all four wire pairs to
connect to the switch or hub. You must ensure that all
building wiring and patch panel connections connect
all four wire pairs.
CAUTION: To avoid line interference, voice and
data lines must be used in separate sheaths.
keyboard
connector
mouse
connector
serial port
connector USB
connectors
parallel port
connector
NIC connector
line-out
jack microphone
jack video connector
line-in
jack
activity indicator
link integrity
indicator