3Com 3C780 User Guide - Page 33

Overview 1-7 The hub provides the following features: s Media flexibility. You can use any mix of one, two, or three of these port modules in the hub: - FDDI media port module supporting 62.5/125 µm fiber-optic cable per the ANSI FDDI standard - STP media port module supporting shielded twisted-pair (STP) type 1 cable and the SDDI de facto standard - UTP media port module supporting level 5 and screened level 5, data grade unshielded twisted-pair (UTP) cabling system per the ANSI TP-PMD standard s Upgradeability. You can easily change from copper media to fiber media and vice versa using the available port modules. s Configurability. You can configure the two leftmost ports of the slot 1 module to meet any one of four network configurations: dual attachment, single attachment, null attachment, and dual homing. s Serviceability with power-on insertion. You can insert and remove the media port modules without removing power from the hub. s Flash EPROM. The presence of the flash EPROM makes the hub's software easily upgradeable because future software images can be downloaded into flash memory over the network via the Trivial File Transfer Protocol (TFTP). (See the section "Downloading New Images" in Chapter 4 for information on downloading images into the flash EPROM.) s FDDI benefits. You can take advantage of the many benefits provided by FDDI technology, including: - Increased data rate of 100 Mbps - Longer distance between nodes via fiber-optic cable - Immunity to electronic "noise" (fiber only) - Support of large networks comprising up to 500 nodes - Fault tolerance and fault isolation - Improved network management