NETGEAR SW108 User Manual

Installation Guide for
the Model SW108
Ethernet Switch

NETGEAR

A Bay Networks Company
48015 Warm Springs Blvd.
Fremont, CA 94539
USA

M-SW108NA-0
June 1997

, Inc.

© 1997 by NETGEAR, Inc. All rights reserved.

Trademarks

Bay Networks is a registered trademark of Bay Networks, Inc. NETGEAR is a trademark of Bay Networks, Inc.
Other brand and product names are registered trademarks or trademarks of their respective holders.

Statement of Conditions

In the interest of improving internal design, operational function, and/or reliability, NETGEAR reserves the right to
make changes to the products described in this document without notice.

NETGEAR does not assume any liability that may occur due to the use or application of the product(s) or circuit
layout(s) described herein.

Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Declaration of Conformity Statement

Note: This equipment has been tested and found to comply with the limits for a Class A digital device, pursuant to
Part 15 of the FCC rules. These limits are designed to provide reasonable protection against harmful interference when
the equipment is operated in a commercial environment. This equipment generates, uses, and can radiate radio frequency
energy. If it is not installed and used in accordance with the instruction manual, it may cause harmful interference to
radio communications. Operation of this equipment in a residential area is likely to cause harmful interference, in which
case users will be required to take whatever measures may be necessary to correct the interference at their own expense.

EN 55 022 Statement

This is to certify that the NETGEAR Model SW108 switch is shielded against the generation of radio interference in
accordance with the application of Council Directive 89/336/EEC, Article 4a. Conformity is declared by the application
of EN 55 022 Class A (CISPR 22).

Warning:

which case, the user may be required to take appropriate measures.

This is a Class A product. In a domestic en vironment, this product may cause radio interference, in

Bestätigung des Herstellers/Importeurs

Es wird hiermit bestätigt, daß das NETGEAR Model SW108 switch gemäß der im BMPT-AmtsblVfg 243/1991 und Vfg
46/1992 aufgeführten Bestimmungen entstört ist. Das vorschriftsmäßige Betreiben einiger Geräte (z.B. Testsender) kann
jedoch gewissen Beschränkungen unterliegen. Lesen Sie dazu bitte die Anmerkungen in der Betriebsanleitung.

Das Bundesamt für Zulassungen in der Telekommunikation wurde davon unterrichtet, daß dieses Gerät auf den Markt
gebracht wurde und es ist berechtigt, die Serie auf die Erfüllung der Vorschriften hin zu überprüfen.

ii

Voluntary Control Council for Interference (VCCI) Statement

This equipment is in the first category (information equipment to be used in commercial and/or industrial areas) and
conforms to the standards set by the Voluntary Control Council for Interference by Data Processing Equipment and
Electronic Office Machines that are aimed at preventing radio interference in commercial and/or industrial areas.

Consequently, when this equipment is used in a residential area or in an adjacent area thereto, radio interference may be
caused to equipment such as radios and TV receivers.

Customer Support

For assistance with installing and configuring your NETGEAR system or with post-installation questions or problems,
contact your point of purchase representative.

To contact customer support or to purchase additional copies of this document and publications for other NETGEAR
products, you can contact NETGEAR at the following numbers:

• Phone:
U.S./Canada: 1-800-211-2069

Japan: 0031-1-26133
Europe: (44) 171-571-5120
Australia: 1- 800-14-20-46

• Fax:
U.S./Canada: 510-498-2609

World Wide W eb

NETGEAR maintains a World Wide Web Home Page that you can access at the universal resource locator (URL)
http://NETGEAR.baynetworks.com. A direct connection to the Internet and a Web browser such as Internet Explorer
or Netscape are required.

iii

iv Contents v

Contents

Chapter 1
Introduction

Benefits of Using Switching Technology .........................................................................1-1

Types of Ethernet Switches ............................................................................................1-2

Model SW108 Switch Overview .....................................................................................1-2

Features .........................................................................................................................1-3

Chapter 2
Physical Description

Front Panel .....................................................................................................................2-1

Ethernet Ports ..........................................................................................................2-2

Normal/Uplink Push Button ......................................................................................2-2

LEDs ........................................................................................................................2-3

Rear Panel ......................................................................................................................2-4

FDX and HDX Duplex Toggle Switches ...................................................................2-4

Chapter 3
Applications

Desktop Switching ..........................................................................................................3-2

Segment Switching .........................................................................................................3-3

Chapter 4
Installation

Preparing the Site ...........................................................................................................4-1

Package Contents ..........................................................................................................4-1

Installing the Switch on a Desktop ..................................................................................4-2

Connecting Devices to the Switch ..................................................................................4-2

Verifying Installation ........................................................................................................4-3

Chapter 5
Troubleshooting

Troubleshooting the Switch and the Network .................................................................5-1

Appendix A
Technical Specifications

General Specifications ................................................................................................... A-1

Appendix B
Connector Pin Assignments

RJ-45 Plug and vista RJ-45 Connector ......................................................................... B-1

Appendix C
Cabling Guidelines

Ethernet T echnology ......................................................................................................C-1

Cable Specifications ......................................................................................................C-1

Twisted Pair Cables ....................................................................................................... C-2

Index

vi Contents

Figures

Figure 2-1. Front panel of the Model SW108 switch ..................................................2-1

Figure 2-2. The vista RJ-45 connector with built-in LEDs ..........................................2-2

Figure 2-3. Rear panel of the Model SW108 switch ...................................................2-4

Figure 3-1. Using the Model SW108 switch for desktop switching .............................3-2

Figure 3-2. Model SW108 switch used as a segment switch .....................................3-3

Figure B-1. RJ-45 plug and vista RJ-45 connector with built-in LEDs ....................... B-1

Figure C-1. Straight-through twisted pair cable .........................................................C-3

Figure C-2. Crossover twisted pair cable ...................................................................C-3

Figures vii

Tables

Table 2-1. LED descriptions ......................................................................................2-3

Table 5-1. Troubleshooting ........................................................................................5-1

Table B-1. RJ-45 plug and vista RJ-45 connector pin assignments ......................... B-2

Table C-1. Electrical requirements of Category 3, 4, and 5 cables .......................... C-2

viii Tables

Chapter 1

Introduction

Congratulations on your purchase of the NETGEAR™ Model SW108 8-port Ethernet Switch.
The Model SW108 switch segments Ethernet networks to relieve bandwidth congestion instantly,
without having to replace network wiring, interface cards, or software.

This guide describes how to install and use the switch. It includes physical configuration
guidelines for connecting multiple 10 megabit per second (Mbps) hubs and for connecting
10 Mbps Ethernet stations, PCs, and servers.

Benefits of Using Switching Technology

Most of installed networks today are based on shared network technology. With this technology,
a number of users or groups of users share 10 Mbps, 100 Mbps, or other amounts of available
network bandwidth (network capacity). For example, with a total of 10 users, the average
bandwidth available to each user on a 10 Mbps network is calculated as 10/10 Mbps, or 1 Mbps
of bandwidth per user.

Ethernet switches significantly increase network throughput by segmenting network traffic. They
check traffic coming in to each port to learn which network device is located on which segment.
Based on this information, switches forward cross-segment traffic only to the appropriate se gment.
The traffic will not show up in the other segments since it is filtered out. In this way, network
capacity is fully reserved for traffic destined for that segment only, and other segments are not
saturated with unnecessary traffic.

Ethernet switches provide private, dedicated, 10 Mbps capacity to each connected PC/server or
hub/workgroup segment, which is significantly higher than in a shared environment. The higher
bandwidth enables applications such as multimedia, imaging, video, or high- performance
client-server functions among users who are spread out over the network.

Introduction 1-1

Installation Guide for the Model SW108 Ethernet Switch

This bandwidth improvement is accomplished very easily, with no change to the desktop (the
network interface cards or software, and network wiring). As a result, the performance upgrade
and the applications it enables are obtained very quickly and at a low cost.

Types of Ethernet Switches

Ethernet switches can be classified in different ways—as desktop switches or segment switches.
A

desktop switch

users need the full 10 Mbps network throughput to support the applications. Often, these switches
support only a single MAC (media access control) address per port, and are relatively inexpensiv e
compared to a segment switch. A
workgroup on each port, with each port having significant memory buffering and supporting
thousands of MAC addresses.

Switches can also be classified by speed. As the name suggests, 10 Mbps switches support only
10 Mbps connections. Similarly, 100 Mbps switches support only 100 Mbps connections. Usually,
10/100 Mbps switches have primarily 10 Mbps ports with one or few 100 Mbps ports. Autosensing
10/100 Mbps switches support 10 Mbps or 100 Mbps connections on each port and are the most
versatile and adaptable switch type.

is designed to support one or a few PCs per port. It is generally used when

segment switch

, in contrast, is designed to support an entire

Model SW108 Switch Overview

The Model SW108 switch is a 10 Mbps switch that can be used as either a segment or a desktop
switch. Its design enables it to function as a segment switching, yet its pricing makes the switch
very affordable for use in desktop applications.

Up to 4 switching paths (8 paths in full-duplex mode) can be established at the same time, with
each path crossing two ports, performing switching that sends packets to the appropriate port
according to the destination address scanned from the packet header. This technique reduces the
latency of packet transmission to 75 microseconds (µs) or less. Compared to approximately 800 µs
for a bridge or 1800 µs for a router, the Model SW108 switch deliv ers a major impro v ement in the
network performance.

Because the Model SW108 switch is a device functioning on the MAC layer , the switch is protocol
independent and is compatible with IEEE802.3, IEEE802.3u, TCP/IP, NetWare, DECnet, and
XNS protocols.

1-2 Introduction

Installation Guide for the Model SW108 Ethernet Switch

Features

The Model SW108 switch has the following key features:

• Eight switched, 10 Mbps, Ethernet 10BASE-T ports

• Full-duplex or half-duplex mode of operation

Full-duplex mode doubles throughput of point-to-point connections by letting individual
ports transmit and receive concurrently when the connecting device also supports
full-duplex mode.

• Easy plug-and-play installation with no software to configure, saving time and minimizing

the potential for configuration errors

• Eight vista RJ-45 connector ports

Each port has built-in LEDs to monitor individual port status.

• LEDs provide network traffic status and information about data transmission speed

• Normal/Uplink push button to simplify network extension

The switch can be connected to a hub using a simple, straight-through cable.

• Compact, sturdy metal case design, which enables easy desktop, wall-mount, or under-desk

installation

• Wire-speed filtering and forwarding to provide a “traffic cop” function by directing traffic

to the appropriate port or network segment without slowing down the traffic

• Low latency store-and-forward transmission mode with leading edge to leading edge of

less than 75 µs

• 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).

• One megabyte (MB) buffer provided for the 10 Mbps ports

• IEEE 802.3 10BASE-T standard compliance

Introduction 1-3