Cabletron Systems 924TXG User Manual

9033024-01

DIGITAL MultiSwitch Fast Ethernet Switch

924TXG Release Notes

Version 1.1.1

April 2000

As warranted, we change the firmware of this device to make f unctional enhance ments or to correc t reported
problems. These Release Notes identify enhancements and changes to the firmware that impact
end-user operation s. They als o cont ain f irmware and so ftwar e requ irement s, and list updat es in th is re lease
as well as known conditions and restrictions that apply to the opera ti on of the DIGITAL MultiSwitch Fast
Ethernet Switch 924TXG.

The following example describes the firmware version number:

Version 1.1.1

Engineering update
Functional enhancement or problem corrected
Major functional enhancement

Contents

Firmware Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

Management Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

Hardware Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

clearVISN Patch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

Known Conditions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

Restrictions and Limitations. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

MIB and RFC Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

Documentation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

Firmware Upgrades. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

Accessing Online Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

1

Firmware Requirements

The DIGITAL MultiSwitch 900 Firmware Version 5.5 or higher is required to manage the following
versions of network modules:

Product Version Filename

DIGITAL MultiSwitch Fast Ethernet Switch
924TXG

We recommend you update your network module(s) to the latest revision. Refer to the following World
Wide Web site for the latest module revision upgrades and release notes:

http://www.cabletron.com/dnpg/dr/hubs/firmware/

1.1.1 MA111.bin

Management Requirements

There are three processes that can be used to manage the DIGITAL MultiSwitch Fast Ethernet Switch
924TXG module:

Using . . . You can . . .

The Console

WebView

The clearVISN Web
Suite

Configure and manage the module. Procedures are described in Chapter 4

Configuring the Module found in the DIGITAL MultiSwitch Fast Ethernet
Switch 916TXG and 924TXG Installation and Configuration manual.

Configure and manage the module as described in the DIGITAL MultiSwitch
Fast Ethernet Switch 916TXG and 924TXG Web Management Guide.

Manage the module using the clearVISN Web Suite. Procedures for managing
the module are described in the clearVISN Web Suite 3.0 Installation and
Getting Star ted Guide.

Hardware Requirements

The minimum hardware revision level for the DIGITAL MultiSwitch Fast Ethernet Switch 924TXG
module that is required to support this release of firmware is hardware version 2.0.

clear

To download the latest cle arVI SN patch softwar e upgrades, go to either of the foll owing World Wi de Web
sites:

VISN Patch

http://www.cabletron.com/dnpg/dr/clearvsn/patches/
http://www.cabletron.com/dnpg/dr/hubs/firmware/

2

Known Conditions

This section describ es conditions and res trictions related to t he DIGITAL MultiSwitch Fast Ethernet Switch
924TXG Version 1.1.1 firmware.

DIGITAL MultiSwit ch 900 Resets may adversely affect MultiSwitch 924TXG LAN
Interconnect configurations

The DIGITAL MultiSwitch 900 maint ains and controls LAN Interc onnect configurati on tables for modules
that are connected to backplane LANs. This information is sh ared with clearVISN i n establishing ba ckplane
connections and is displayed within clearVISN’s LAN Interconnect window.

The following may arise when a reset occurs on the MultiSwitch 900 and ther e is no reset (at that same time)
on the MultiSwitch 924TXG:

• The MultiSwitch 900 loses the current LAN Interconnection information for the MultiSwitch

924TXG and clears the database of any connections the module may still have. (This is a
MultiSwitch 900 limitation and will be fixed in a later release.)

• clearVISN and the MultiSwitch 924TXG module retai n the b ackpla ne conf igura tion da ta the y

had before
LAN Interconnect window and the module’s LEDs continue to blink. However, since this
information is no longer in synchronization with the MultiSwitch 900’s control database, it is
considered “stale” and not valid.

the MultiSwitch 900’s reset. clearVISN continues to displ ay the connect ions i n the

• Any subsequent attempts to remove or establish backplane connections to the MultiSwitch

924TXG using clearVISN will fail.

To regain synchronization between the MultiSwitch 900, clearVISN and the MultiSwitch 924TXG and to
recover LAN Interconnect capabilities on the MultiSwitch 924TXG, do the following:

• Reset all MultiSwitch 924TXGs that are in the hub.

• Click on the “Refresh” butt on in clearVISN’ s LAN Interconnect window to update clearVISN

to the MultiSwitch 900’s configuration tables.

For notification of Multi Swit ch 900 r esets, an SNMP trap address may be set up to monitor and record the
MultiSwitch 900 events.

Walking SNMP v2 Objects through the 900 Hub

MIB objects of type COUNTER64 (SNMP v2) cannot be walked through the MultiSwitch 900 hub. The
MultiSwitch 924TXG has se ver al ob je cts wi th this data type. In or der t o wa lk th ese ob jects you must walk
the MultiSwitch 924TXG through a front-panel port using its own IP address and community string.

TFTP Filename Length

The length of TFTP fil enames is restri cted to 37 charac ters or less. Any attempt t o set a filename exceedin g
37 charact ers will cau se the switch to reset.

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SNMP Downloads

Downloads using SNMP sets to the pcomLoad group are not supported in this release. Use the Download
Software Menu within the console interface to upgrade the module.

OBM and Console Ports Not Supported

The OBM and console ports on the back panel of the DEChub ONE and DEChub ONE-MX are not
supported. Use the front conso le port on the DIGIT AL MultiSwitch Fas t Ethernet Swit ch 924TXG module
to configure the module.

Activity LED Response on Ports Remapped to the Hub Backplane

On ports remapped to th e HUB backplane, the activity LED shoul d f li ck er o ra nge when there is receive or
transmit activity b etween the s witch and t he backplan e. However, if a cable wit h network tr affic is pl ugged
into the front-panel po rt, the activity LED wi ll turn green according to the cable traffic. The green LED
indication overrides the orange indication from the backplane traffic. Although the cable is isolated from
the switch and the backplane (i.e., the port has been remapped to the backplane), the LED indication still
reflects cable t ra ff ic when a c abl e i s connected. The fix for thi s is to remove the cable from t h e fr ont -pa n el
port (for those ports that have been remapped to the backplane).

MultiSwitch 900 v5.5 Backplane Connection Restrictions

The increased number of 924TXG backplane connection subtypes available (i.e., 100Mb Half-Duplex,
100Mb Full-Duplex, etc .) crea tes a re stri ction withi n the Mul tiSwi tch 900 (ve rsion s v5.5 and ear lier ). This
restriction limi ts the numbe r of modules th at can b e used f or backpl ane inte rconnect. This limitation will be

fixed in a late r release of the MultiSwit ch 900.

In V5.5 and earlier versions, the MultiSwitch 900 maintains a LAN Interconnect configuration table of up
to 256 subtypes. Each module supports a defined number of subtypes (see table below for the number of
subtypes on specific products). When a module is powered on within the MultiSwitch 900, the module’s
total number of subtypes is adde d to the MultiSwitch 900’s configuration table. Once the configu ration table
is filled to capacity or when the number of entries availa ble in the table does not accommod ate the number
of subtypes on a newly inserted module, all subtypes on that module will be ignored and none of its ports
will be usable on the backplane.

An indication that t his li mit at ion has bee n exceeded (or that the number of su bty pes of a module could not
fit within the MultiSwitch 900’s LAN Interconnect table) can be observed in the clearVISN LAN
Interconnect scree n. Attempts to expand a view o f the module wi ll fail such that no backp lane capable ports
will be displayed.

NOTE

This limitation only affects backplane connectivity . All othe r
features of the module are unaffected.

4

The number of backplane connection subtypes per module are listed in the following table:

Module Number of

Backplane
Connection
Subtypes

MultiSwitch 924TXG 60
DECswitch 900EF 15
PORTswitch 900TP/12 25
PORTswitch 900TPJ 7
DECrepeater 900TM 2
MultiSwitch Hub 924TXG

2

VNswitch 900EF 22
VNswitch 900FF 17
VNswitch 900CC 1
VNswitch 900LL 14
VNswitch 900EE 14

This limitation becomes a consideration in configurations that include modules with many subtype
capabilities (i.e., greater subtype values).

To determine whether a configuration will allow backplane connectivity on all of the modules’ backplane
capable ports, calculate the total number of subtypes per module within the hub and compare this number
to the 256 limitat ion. If the nu mber is greater than 256, loss of backplane c onnectivity on so me modules will
occur.

See the following examples of sample config urati ons that stay wi thin or exceed t he 256-s ubtype l imitat ion.

• Examples of configurations that stay within the 256 subtype limitation:

Three MultiSwitch 924TXGs (3 @ 60 subtypes) and three PORTswitch 900TP/12s (3 @ 25
subtypes) for a total number of 255 subtypes.

Two MultiSwitch 924TXGs (2 @ 60 subtyp es), t wo VNswitch 900EFs (2 @ 22 subty pes) a nd
two PORTswitch 900TP/12s (2 @ 25 subtypes) for a total number of 214 subtypes.

• Example of a configuration that exceeds the 256 subtype limitation:

Four MultiSwitch 924TXGs ( 4 @ 60 subt ype s) and two PORTswitch 900TP/12s (2 @ 25) for
a total number of 290 subtypes.

NOTE

In general, most combinations of two MultiSwitch 924TXGs plus six of any other modules fall
within the 256-subtype limitatio n of the hub. (An exception to this is the inclus ion of the
PORTswitch 900TP/12, where it is recommended the above calculations be followed.)

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