GarrettCom MNS-6K Manual Do Utilizador

M A G N U M   6 K   S W I T C H E S ,     M N S - 6 K   U S E R   G U I D E  
 

1.  The S-Ring feature is a separately licensed module for the MNS-6K software 

package. This module must be enabled by means of a software key 

2.  Only one switch is the “Ring Master”. That switch has S-Ring Software 

authorized (enabled) for that device. Thus only one license key is needed per 
ring (and not per switch) 

3.  There can be multiple S-Rings on a given Magnum 6K switch. There can be 

multiple ring topologies in a network. Each ring has to be a separate ring. Ring 
of rings or overlapping rings are not supported at this time 

4.  S-Ring topologies support one failure in the network. A second failure may 

create isolated network islands 

5.  At least one untagged VLAN must be available for the BPDU’s to propagate 

through the network to update RSTP/STP status 

6.  S-Ring faults can be software signaled to alarm contacts.  

 

RS-Ring concepts

Today, more and more situations demand a network to be 
built using managed switches. These situations also demand 
a faster recovery time in case of a network failure. The 

topologies have to be simple for maintenance and other reasons. In these situations, 
a ring topology provides fault tolerance with the simplicity. RS-Ring feature can be 
used on managed Magnum 6K family of switches. RS-Ring provides the simple ring 
topology and provides faster recovery times than S-Ring or STP/RSTP.  

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RS-Ring is built upon networking software standards such as Rapid Spanning Tree 
Protocol (RSTP) based on IEEE 802.1w. RS-Ring defines two ports on each switch 
which participates in the ring topology and works with the RSTP tree structure. RS-
Ring requires RSTP to be configured across all switches and uses the underlying 
RSTP protocol to provide simplicity in configuration as well as rapid recovery in the 
RS-Ring topology. The recovery times for RS-Ring based networks are within 
milliseconds. While the recovery time for STP devices is in tens of seconds (typically 
30 seconds in most networks) or sub second to a few seconds for RSTP networks, 
RS-Ring offers recovery times typically in less than 100 milliseconds.  The biggest 
advantage of RS-Ring, besides the fast recovery time, is the defined topology which 
makes the network manageable. RS-Ring is configured on Magnum 6K family of 
switches and requires RSTP to be enabled on all switches participating in the RS-
Ring. RS-Ring cannot be used in a multi-vendor environment. 
 
RS-Ring operates from specifically defined port pairs that participate in a ring-
topology. Each of the two ends of a ring must be connected to two ports in a 
Magnum 6K Switch that is enabled with the RS-Ring software. The end points of the 
ring provide an alternate path to reach the switch that has failed. Some items for 
using RS-Ring are as follows: 
 

1.  Faster recover times than S-Ring or RSTP are needed by the network 
2.  The RS-Ring feature is a separately licensed module for the MNS-6K software 

package. This module must be enabled by means of a software key.  

3.  The same key can be used for either S-Ring or RS-Ring 

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