Allied Telesis AT-8550 User Manual
Page 21
AT-9108, AT-8518, AT-8525, and AT-8550 User’s Guide
1-7
A high-speed core switch is used to aggregate Gigabit Ethernet links
from several Allied Telesyn Gigabit Ethernet switches and fast
Ethernet links from access routers.
In this diagram, the Gigabit switches are used for enterprise desktop
connectivity, segment switching, and server switching. The AT-8550
and AT-8525 are used for enterprise desktop connectivity; a
combination of the AT-8518
and
AT-8525 is used for segment
switching; and the AT-9108
is used for server switching.
A unique feature of the Gigabit switches is that they provide full layer
3 switching or routing. By enabling core and server switches to route,
the performance penalty of traditional software-based routers can
be removed, and those routers can be used primarily for WAN and
access routing applications. At the desktop, enabling routing on
enterprise desktop switches can increase reliability by dual-homing
the switch to the backbone. In addition, routing on desktop switches
increases the efficiency of the LAN by properly handling IP multicast
packets that are destined for desktops. Segment switches that
deliver wire-speed IP routing can permit easy network migration
with no change to the existing subnet structure.