ZyXEL XGS1210-12 User Guide - Page 9

CHAPTER 1 Getting to Know Your Switch 1.1 Introduction This chapter introduces the main features and applications of the Switch. The Switch has the following ports: • Eight 10/100/1000 Mbps Ethernet ports for connecting to computers, IPTVs, VoIP phones, IP cameras, and print servers. • Two 100/1000 Mbps / 2.5G Ethernet ports for connecting to 2.5G router/AP (access point) and 2.5G gaming PC. • Two 1000 Mbps / 10G SFP+ ports for connecting to 10G NAS and core backbone. The Switch also provides the Web Configurator to configure the ports, VLAN, QoS, system, switch management, link aggregation, mirroring, IGMP snooping, and firmware upgrade. The QoS (Quality of Service) feature allows you to prioritize the flow of data passing through the Switch. The Switch is IEEE802.3az (Energy Efficient Ethernet Standard) compliant, for power-saving without compromising performance. 1.2 Applications This section shows a few examples of using the Switch in various network environments. 1.2.1 Multi-Gigabit A 2.5 Gigabit Ethernet port supports speeds of 2.5 Gbps if the connected device supports 2.5Gbps and a Cat 5e (up to 100 m) cable is used. The speed drops to 1 Gbps if these criteria are not met; it drops to 100 Mbps if a Cat 5 cable is used (up to 100 m). Some network devices such as gaming computers, servers, network attached storage (NAS) devices, or access points may have network cards that are capable of 2.5 Gbps connectivity. If these devices are connected to a 1 Gbps Ethernet port, they can only transmit or receive up to 1 Gbps as speeds of 2.5 Gbps cannot be attained. Moreover, if network devices with 2.5 Gbps network cards are connected to a 2.5 Gbps Ethernet port, you must use Cat 5e Ethernet cables to achieve 2.5 Gbps speeds. The Multi-Gigabit Ethernet ports on the Switch automatically allow connections up to the speed of the connected network device (100 Mbps, 1 Gbps, or 2.5 Gbps), and only require a Cat 5e Ethernet cable. XGS1210-12 User's Guide 9