Enterasys Networks Enterasys Platinum Distributed Forwarding Engine 7G4285-49 - Manual (Page 30)

Link Aggregation
2-2 Network Requirements
Link Aggregation
Link Aggregation is a method of grouping multiple physical ports on a network device
into one logical link according to the IEEE 802.3ad‐2002 standard. Because Link
Aggregation is standards based, it allows for automatic configuration with manual
overrides (if applicable), and can operate on 10 Mbps, 100 Mbps, or 1000 Mbps Ethernet
full duplex ports. Thus the network administrator can combine a group of five 100 Mbps
ports into a logical link (trunk) that functions as a single 500 Mbps port. As long as the
DFE modules agree on which ports are in the trunk, there are no problems with looping,
and the Spanning Tree can treat this trunk as a single port.
In normal usage (and typical implementations) there is no need to enable/disable ports for
Link Aggregation. The default values will result in the maximum number of aggregations
possible. If the switch is placed in a configuration with its peers not running the protocol,
no aggregations will be formed and the DFE modules will function normally (that is,
Spanning Tree will block redundant paths).
For details about the commands involved with configuring the Link Aggregation
function, refer to the Enterasys Matrix DFE‐Platinum Series Configuration Guide.
10BASE-T Network
When connecting a 10BASE‐T segment to any of the RJ45 fixed front‐panel ports of the
7G4285‐49
or 7G4205‐72, ensure that the network meets the Ethernet network
requirements of the IEEE 802.3‐2002 standard for 10BASE‐T and 802.3af‐2003 standard for
Power over Ethernet (PoE) power sourcing applications over Ethernet cabling. For more
information about PoE, refer to
Appendix C .
Note: If a port is to operate at 100 or 1000 Mbps, Category 5 cabling must be used.
Category 3 cabling does not meet 100 Mbps specifications. For 10 Mbps operation only,
Category 3 or Category 5 cabling can be used. Refer to the “
100BASE-TX Network ” on
page 2-3 for information about 100BASE-TX networks and cabling.