Extreme 3804 User Guide

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UMMIT

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WITCH

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NSTALLATION

 

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UMMIT

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VERVIEW

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 

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 

.

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