RuggedCom RuggedRouter RX1100 - Manual (Page 59)

6. Configuring Ethernet Interfaces
Revision 1.14.3 59 RX1000/RX1100™
6. Configuring Ethernet Interfaces
6.1. Introduction
This chapter familiarizes the user with:
• Reading the Ethernet LEDs
• Configuring Ethernet Network Interfaces
• Configuring VLANs
• Configuring an Ethernet Bridge
• Configuring PPPoE
6.1.1. Ethernet Interface Fundamentals
RuggedCom manufactures dual Ethernet Interface boards in a variety of formats. Some (most notably
the optical interfaces) have the same outward appearance but different order numbers. A complete
set of descriptions is displayed on the console during boot and can be found after boot in the file /
var/cache/ruggedrouter/inventory.
6.1.1.1. LED Designations
The RuggedRouter includes two sources of LED indicated information about Ethernet ports, the front
panel LEDs and the LED Panel.
A LED is associated with each port, next to the Ethernet interface RJ45 socket. This LED is off when
the link is disconnected, remains solidly on when the link is established and flashes briefly from on
to off when traffic occurs.
The LED Panel also summarizes this information. LEDs 1-4 reflect traffic on Ethernet port 1-4. LEDs
5-8 reflect the link status of the same ports.
6.1.2. VLAN Interface Fundamentals
A virtual LAN (VLAN) is a group of devices on one or more LAN segments that communicate as if
they were attached to the same physical LAN segment. VLANs are extremely flexible because they
are based on logical instead of physical connections. When VLANs are introduced, all traffic in the
network must belong to one or another VLAN. Traffic on one VLAN cannot pass to another, except
through an intranetwork router or layer 3 switch.
The IEEE 802.1Q protocol specifies how traffic on a single physical network can be partitioned into
VLANs by “tagging” each frame or packet with extra bytes to denote which virtual network the packet
belongs to.
6.1.2.1. VLAN Tag
A VLAN tag is the identification information that is present in frames in order to support VLAN
operation. If an Ethernet frame is VLAN tagged, the EtherType value (immediately following the