Compex GSM8308 Datasheet

Technote - 077 (Rev 1.0)

GSM8308

8-Port Gigabit Modular Layer 2/3 Switch

DATA SHEET

The modularity of GSM8308 Layer 2/3 switch provides a flexible solution for both
campus networks and enterprises networks of all sizes. The GSM8308 switch
provides Gigabit wire-speed Layer 2 and Layer 3 switching, based on physical
device addresses and IP network addresses, thus giving the utmost switching
performance in enterprise networking.

In large networks that handle a lot of traffic, broadcast storms can result if it is not

properly contained. In conventional networks with routers, broadcast traffic is split up
into separate physical domains to confine this traffic to the originating group. Instead
of using physically separate subnets that are linked by traditional slow routers,
GSM8308 creates segregated broadcast domains based on easily configurable
VLANs, and links these VLANs as required with wire-speed routing. This would
reduce the network broadcast by the switch and markedly improves the performance
of the network.

GSM8308 supports comprehensive layer 2 switching and management functions,

including IEEE 802.1p/q VLAN tagging, Spanning Tree, port-trunking, and
port-mirroring. It supports Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP)
management and 4 groups of Remote Monitoring (RMON) and can be managed by a
CLI through Telnet or the console port, or through a web browser graphical interface.

When GSM8308 is set to multilayer mode, it acts as a routing switch. As a layer 3
switch, GSM8308 provides two major functions: - IP Switching and Routing Path
Management. With IP Switching, GSM8308 basically provide wire-speed forwarding
based on IP destination address. If packets are to be forwarded outside the switch, the
routing path is determined by static routes manually stored in the switch, or through
dynamic routing protocols. GSM8308 supports ICMP router discovery, Proxy ARP,
Routing Information Protocol (RIP and RIP-2), Open Shortest Path First (OSPFv2)
for routing path management in a network with many routers. GSM8308 does not
support non-IP protocols such as IPX and Appletalk.

GSM8308 supports IP multicast filtering. It does this not only by passively

monitoring (snooping) Internet Group Management Protocol (IGMP) Query and
Report messages and Distance-Vector Multicast Routing Protocol (DVMRP) Probe
messages to register end-stations as multicast group members, but also by actively
sending Generic Multicast Registration Protocol (GMRP) Query messages to learn
the location of multicast routers/switches and member hosts in multicast groups
within each VLAN. This is especially useful in an intensive multicast environment
where video conferencing or data sharing is widely used. The purpose of IP multicast
filtering is to optimize a switched network’s performance, so multicast packets will
only be forwarded to those ports containing multicast group hosts or multicast
routers/switches, instead of flooding traffic to all ports in the subnet.

Technote - 077 (Rev 1.0)

Layer 3 Switching Performance

High performance, line-rate switching for
applications requiring Layer 3 protocols.
Protocols that are supported in the GSM8308
include RIP v1 and RIP v2, OSPF, and
Distance-Vector Multicast Routing (DVMRP).
Data can now be routed quickly between
Virtual LANs with the support for Layer 3
routing.

Network Scalability through Layer 3
Routed uplinks to Layer 3 switches enable it to
provide dynamic load-balancing and also quick
fail-over protection when one of the network
paths is down. Partitioning a network into
VLANs and using IP routing to connect
VLANs ensure that broadcast are greatly
reduced to improve network performance in the
core networks.

Layer 3 Priority Forwarding
An IP packet can be put into high priority based
on the priority bits in the IP address table entry.
This results in better network traffic
management, prioritization and reduces the
likelihood of network congestion.

Segment your Network

The GSM8308 switch supports both Port-based
and Tagged V L A N . T h i s a l l o ws
segmenting of the entire network into
maximum 256 smaller workgroups to improve
the network performance as the network
broadcast is greatly reduced.

MAC/IP Address Filtering

GSM8308 can filter out data packets
based on certain MAC or IP address. This
would block these network packets from
accessing the network.

Broadcast Rate Limiting
The GSM8308 is able to limit and control
the broadcast traffic into the network by
setting the threshold timer. If the
broadcast traffic into the network is above
the threshold value, all the broadcast
packets will be discarded by the switch to
stop broadcast.

Password Protected Configuration
The configuration of the switch is
protected by 2 sets of password. One set
has administrator rights, which allows the
user to view or modify system parameters.
The other set has read-only access, which
allows user to view the status of the
system, but not to modify it.

Jumbo Frame Support

GSM8308 allows oversize Ethernet
frames to be segmented into smaller
frames to be transmitted back into the
network. This is commonly found in
research and enterprise networks where
large amount of data like video, audio and
databases are being transmitted from
servers to clients.

Many large networks are typically designed with redundancy to load share packets
across parallel links. When two GSM8308 switches are connected with parallel links,
the routing protocol and corresponding routing table would create two entries for
network packets traversing these switches and would set up load sharing. This feature
would allow the design of more flexible, fault-tolerant network as well as increasing
the bandwidth between switches.

With wire-speed Layer 2 switching and wire-speed Layer 3 IP routing on all ports,

and the ability to support either 1000 Base-T copper module or 1000 Base SX/LX
modules, GSM8308 is designed for high performance workstation connectivity,
campus network as well as server farm aggregation or backbone applications.

Technote - 077 (Rev 1.0)

8-Port Gigabit Modular Layer 2/3 switch

DATA SHEET

Features
and Benefits

Resiliency
Spanning Tree Protocol ensures resiliency in
the network. In the event that preferred switch
path is broken or down. The resilient path takes
over and valuable data is still able to travel
from the server to the destination workstation.

Prioritize Network Traffic
The Priority Queuing is designed based on
IEEE 802.1p standard. It supports four levels of
priority per port for prioritizing critical network
traffic. This is very useful for application such
as video and sound streaming.

Upgradeability
The GSM8308 comes with two gigabit
Copper-based modules and six blank modular
slots. Each slot can be used with either a
10/100/1000 Base-T copper module or a
1000Base-SX/LX fiber module. This
flexibility provides a high-speed connectivity in
the wiring closet, server farm or campus with
fiber or copper cabling.

SNMP Monitoring
The SNMP & RMON allow the
monitoring of data flow and network
statistics in the switch. The RMON allows
remote monitoring of the switch and to
alert user of any abnormal operations.
Four groups of RMON is supported:-
Statistics, History, Alarms and Events.

Management
SNMP and RMON management can be
access through the console port, by Telnet
or via a Graphical User Interface through
a common web-browser.

Feature Benefit

Layer 3 Functionality Applications that needs support for Layer 3.

Supported protocols include RIP v1 and RIP v2,
OSPF and DVMRP v3.

IP Multicast filtering Performance of the network is improved as the

multicast packets will only be forwarded to those
ports containing multicast group hosts or
multicast routers/switches, instead of flooding
traffic to all ports in the subnet.

Network availability through Layer 3 Quick fail-over protection and load-balancing in

routed uplinks are available through IP dynamic
routing.

IEEE 802.1Q Virtual LAN Segment your network into maximum 256

smaller workgroups or VLANs for easy
manageability and to control network broadcast
traffic.

IEEE 802.1d Spanning Tree Protocol Allows resilient network path to take over

automatically when the preferred network path is
down.

SNMP & RMON SNMP & RMON allows monitoring of your

network switch remotely and alert user of switch
abnormalities in the event of failure.

Technote - 077 (Rev 1.0)

DATA SHEET

8-Port Gigabit Modular Layer 2/3 switch

Connectors

8 modular ports for 1000 Base-T or
1000 Base SX/LX expansion modules

Performance

Packet Forwarding Rate: 11.9Mpps
Bandwidth: 19 GBps
Address Entries: 16K
Switching Buffer: 3M Bytes

Environment Requirements

Operating temperature: 0oC to 40oC
Storage Temperature: -40oC to 70 oC
Operating Humidity: 10%to 90%
relative humidity non-condensing

Functional

IEEE 802.3 (Ethernet)
IEEE 802.3u (Fast Ethernet)
IEEE 802.3ab (Gigabit Ethernet)
IEEE 802.3z (1000 Base-SX/LX)
IEEE 802.3x (Flow Control)

Switching Features/ Functionality

IEEE 802.1p (Priority Queuing)
IEEE 802.1d (Spanning Tree Protocol)
IEEE 802.1Q (VLAN)
Link Aggregation (IEEE 802.3ad trunk­ing)
IGMP (RFC 1112)
Port Mirroring
Jumbo Frame Support
MAC/IP address filtering

Power Supply

AC Line Frequency: 50 to 60 Hz
Input Voltage Options: 100 - 250 VAC
Current Ratings: 1A (max)
Power Ratings: 60W

Safety Certifications

IEC 950, EN60950, CE Mark, UL1950,
CSA 950

Emissions

FCC Part 15 Class A, EN55022A

Immunity

IEC 801-2, IEC 801-3, IEC 801-4

LED Indicators

Power, Full, Link/ACT, 10/100M,
1000M

Buttons

Reset

SNMP Standards

SNMP (RFC 1157)
Remote Monitoring MIB
(RFC 2819)
Bridge MIB (RFC 1493)

802.1Q Bridge MIB (RFC 2674)

Management

Telnet, RS232 Console Port, Web­Based Management Interface,
SNMP, Four RMON groups (1:
statistics, 2: history, 3: history, 9:
events)

Dimensions

Height: 66mm (2.60 inches)
Width: 440mm (17.32 inches)
Depth: 225mm (8.86 inches)

8-Port Gigabit Modular Layer 2/3 switch GSM8308-110 (For US & Canada)
GSM8308-220 (For Europe & Asia)
GSM8308-UK (For UK only)
GSM8308-AUS (For Australia only)

Optional Modules GMX1000T-CU - 1000 Base-T Module
GMX1000SX-SC - 1000 Base-SX Module
GMX1000LX-SC - 1000 Base-LX Module

Compex Systems Pte Ltd. 135 Joo Seng Road, #08-01 PM Industrial Building, Singapore.
Tel : [phone] Fax : [phone]
Compex Inc, USA. 4051 E. La Palma Ave., Anaheim, CA 92807, USA.
Tel : [phone] Fax : [phone]
ReadyLINK N etworktechn ology GmbH. Albert-Einstein-Straβe, 34/M21, 63322 Rodermark, Germany.
Tel : [phone] Fax : [phone]

To learn more a bout Compex sol utions, vis it us at http://www.compex.com.sg or www.cpx.com

Copyright © 2002 Compex Systems. All rights reserved. COMPEX, the COMPEX logo, and ReadyLINK are registered trademarks of COMPEX Inc.
While every effort is made to ensure the information is accurate, Compex does not accept liability for any errors or mistakes which may arise. All
specification are subject to change without notice.

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