Netgear FS508 Installation Guide - Page 11

Installation Guide for the Model FS508 Fast Ethernet Switch The Model FS508 switch can be used to partition a 10 Mbps or 100 Mbps network to enhance the capacity of the network to support advanced applications. In addition, the switch provides a link between traditional 10 Mbps and the faster 100 Mbps networks. By installing a Model FS508 switch, a user can connect any 10 Mbps or 100 Mbps device to the switch without worrying about the running speed of the device. The Model FS508 switch provides a built-in upgrade path; you can remove a 10 Mbps connection and replace the connection with a 100 Mbps connection with little or no change to the rest of the network. The Model FS508 switch can be effectively used to join multiple 100 Mbps Fast Ethernet segments and to extend the reach of the network. Copper-based Fast Ethernet networks have a network diameter of up to 200 meters, no matter how many Fast Ethernet hubs are cascaded or stacked together. However, the Model FS508 switch can be used to join these segments to enable them to function as a single logical network. With one Model FS508 switch, the reach extends to 400 meters. With two switches, the reach extends to 600 meters. For an illustration of using the switch to extend a network, refer to Figure 3-3 on page 3-4. Because the Model FS508 switch is an ISO media access control (MAC) layer device, the switch is network protocol independent and compatible with all popular networks such as the Internet or TCP/IP, NetWare, DECnet, Microsoft NETBEUI, and LANTASTIC. Features The Model FS508 switch has the following key features: • Eight auto-speed sensing 10/100 Mbps Ethernet ports to provide fast information exchange, resource sharing, and client or peer-to-peer communication using simple Category 5 unshielded twisted pair (UTP) cable • Automatic address learning function to build the packet forwarding information table The table contains up to 8,000 MAC addresses (that is, the switch can support networks with as many as 8,000 devices). • Switch-selectable auto- or full-duplex mode of operation Full-duplex mode doubles throughput of point-to-point connections by letting individual ports transmit and receive concurrently when the other end also supports full-duplex mode. The default is half-duplex if the connected device does not support N-way negotiation. The duplex toggle switch can be set to full-duplex if the connected port is operating at full-duplex mode. • Nonblocking cross-bar switching matrix to allow concurrent operation of up to eight Ethernet segments in full-duplex mode Introduction 1-3