Asante Technologies FM2017 - Manual (Page 11)

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Chapter 3. Network Application
This section provides a few samples of network topology in which the switch can be used. In general, the
switch is designed to be used as a segment switch. That is, with its large address table (8000 MAC address)
and high performance, it is ideal for interconnecting networking segments.
You can use the switch to connect PCs, workstations, and servers to each other by connecting these
devices directly to the switch. The switch automatically learns nodes addresses, which are subsequently
used to filter and forward all traffic based on the destination address.
The switch can connect with another switch or hub to interconnect each of your small, switched workgroups
to form a larger switched network. Meanwhile, you can also use fiber ports to connect switches. The
distance between two switches via fiber cable can be up to 2 kilometers (multi-mode fiber) or 15~60
kilometers (single-mode fiber).
Small Workgroup
The switch can be used as a standalone switch to which personal computers, servers or printer servers are
directly connect to form a small workgroup.
Segment Bridge
For enterprise networks where large data broadcasts are constantly processed, this switch is an ideal
solution for department users to connect to the corporate backbone.
For example, two Ethernet switches, both with PCs and/or a print server, and a local server can all
connected to the FM2017. All of the devices in this configuration can communicate with each other through
the FM2017. Connecting a server to the switch allows other users to access that server’s data.
VLAN Application
A Virtual Local Area Network (VLAN) logically segments the physical LAN so that packets are switched only
between ports within the same VLAN group. This creates secure segments, as well as enables efficient
traffic separation, provides better bandwidth utilization and alleviates cabling issues.
You can group the switch ports into broadcast domains by assigning them to the same VLAN group to
increase network capacity and performance. Moreover, VLAN groups can be modified at any time to add,
move or change users without any re-cabling (for more information, see Chapter 5. Web-Based
Management).