Alcatel-Lucent 6850-48 Network Guide

Ethernet Ports Overview

Configuring Ethernet Ports

page 1-4

OmniSwitch AOS Release 6 Network Configuration Guide

This chapter describes the Ethernet software CLI commands used for configuring and monitoring your 
switch’s Ethernet port parameters. These commands allow you to handle administrative or port-related 
requests to and from SNMP, CLI, or WebView.

Note.  OmniSwitch 9000 Series and OmniSwitch 9000E Series switches do not support combo ports. 
These ports are supported on OmniSwitch 6400 Series, OmniSwitch 6800 Series, OmniSwitch 6850 
Series, and OmniSwitch 6855 Series switches only.

The OmniSwitch platforms mentioned above have ports that are shared between copper 10/100/1000 RJ-
45 connections and SFP connectors, which can accept any qualified SFP transceivers. These ports are 
known as combo ports (also sometimes referred to as “hybrid” ports).

You can use either the copper 10/100/1000 port or the equivalent SFP connector, for example, but not both 
at the same time. By default, combo ports are set to preferred fiber, which means that the switch will use 
the SFP connector instead of the equivalent copper RJ-45 port. However, if the SFP connector goes down, 
the equivalent combo port will come up. This mode can be used if you want to use the SFP connector as 
your main link while having a copper link as a backup.

For example, on the OmniSwitch 6850-24, ports 21-24 are combo ports. If cables are connected to the 
combo copper port 21 and the combo SFP port 21, the SFP link will be the active one. If the SFP link goes 
down then the copper port will automatically become active. No user intervention is required.

Note. See 

, 

, and 

 for 

more information on combo ports. In addition, refer to the specific Hardware Users Guide for each type of 
switch.

The following three additional optional combo port modes are user configurable:

• Preferred copper. In this mode, the switch will use the copper RJ-45 port instead of the equivalent SFP 

connector, if both ports are enabled and have a valid link.

• Forced fiber. In this mode, the switch will always use the SFP connector instead of the equivalent 

copper RJ-45 port.

• Forced copper. In this mode, the switch will always use the copper RJ-45 port instead of the equiva-

lent SFP connector.

 for more information on configuring combo 

ports.

Note: Settings for SFPs are dependent upon the type of transceiver being used. Refer to the OmniSwitch 
Transceivers Guide for information on supported SFPs.