Extreme Networks Summit1 - Manual (Page 26)

1-6 S UMMIT S WITCH I NSTALLATION AND U SER G UIDE
S UMMIT O VERVIEW
L OAD S HARING
Load sharing with Summit switches allows the user to increase bandwidth and
resilience between switches by using a group of ports to carry traffic in parallel between
switches. The sharing algorithm allows the switch to use multiple ports as a single
logical port. For example, VLANs see the load-sharing group as a single virtual port.
The algorithm also guarantees packet sequencing between clients.
For information on load sharing, refer to Chapter 4 .
V IRTUAL LAN S (VLAN S )
The Summit has a VLAN feature that enables you to construct your broadcast domains
without being restricted by physical connections. Up to 255 VLANs can be defined on
the Summit. A VLAN is a group of location- and topology-independent devices that
communicate as if they were on the same physical local area network (LAN).
Implementing VLANs on your network has the following three advantages:
• It helps to control broadcast traffic. If a device in VLAN marketing transmits a
broadcast frame, only VLAN marketing devices receive the frame.
• It provides extra security. Devices in VLAN marketing can only communicate with
devices on VLAN sales using a device that provides routing services.
• It eases the change and movement of devices on networks. If a device in VLAN
marketing is moved to a port in another part of the network, all you must do is
specify that the new port belongs to VLAN marketing.
For more information on VLANs, refer to Chapter 5 .
S PANNING T REE P ROTOCOL (STP)
The Summit supports the IEEE 802.1D Spanning Tree Protocol (STP), which is a
bridge-based mechanism for providing fault tolerance on networks. STP enables you to
implement parallel paths for network traffic, and ensure the following:
• Redundant paths are disabled when the main paths are operational.
• Redundant paths are enabled if the main traffic paths fail.
Summit.bk : 1OVRVW.FM Page 6 Thursday, June 18, 1998 9:27 AM