Allied Telesis AT-S25 - Manual (Page 42)

Section II: Local and Telnet Mangement
42
When Does a Switch Need an IP Address?
If you wish to remotely manage an AT-8316F or an AT-8324 switch, you
must assign it an IP address. The IP address is assigned to the Master
switch and is shared by all the switches in a stack.
When you assign a switch an IP address, you must also assign it a subnet
mask. The switch uses the subnet mask to determine which portion of an
IP address represents the network address and which the node address.
You must also assign the switch a gateway address if there is a router
between the switch and the remote management workstation. This
gateway address is the IP address of the router through which the switch
and management station will communicate.
If you do not plan to remotely manage any of the AT-8316F or AT-8324
Switches in your network, then you do not need to assign any of them
an IP address. The switches will operate fine without an IP address and
you will still be able to manage them completely using local
management interfaces.
How Do You
Assign an IP
Address?
Once you have decided which, if any, switches on your network need an
IP address, you have to access the AT-S25 software on the switches and
assign the addresses. There are actually two ways in which a switch can
obtain an IP address.
The first method is for you to assign the IP configuration information
manually. The procedure for this is explained in Configuring an IP
Address and Switch Name on page 43. Initially assigning an IP address
to a switch can only be done through a local management interface.
The second method is for you to activate the BOOTP and DHCP services
on the switch and have the switch automatically download its IP
configuration information from a BOOTP or DHCP server on your
network. This procedure is explained in Activating the BOOTP and
DHCP Services on page 46.