3Com OfficeConnect 3C16733A User manual

OfficeConnect®Dual Speed Switch 4,
Switch 8 and Switch 16
User Guide (3C16733A, 3C16734B, 3C16735B)
3C16734_Booklet.book Page i Monday, February 21, 2000 4:47 PM

3Com Corporation ■5400 Bayfront Plaza ■Santa Clara, California ■95052-8145
Copyright © 2000, 3Com Technologies. All rights reserved.
No part of this documentation may be reproduced in any form or by any means
or used to make any derivative work (such as translation, transformation, or
adaptation) without written permission from 3Com Technologies.
3Com Technologies reserves the right to revise this documentation and to make
changes in content from time to time without obligation on the part of 3Com
Technologies to provide notification of such revision or change.
3Com Technologies provides this documentation without warranty, term, or
condition of any kind, either implied or expressed, including, but not limited to,
the implied warranties, terms or conditions of merchantability, satisfactory
quality, and fitness for a particular purpose. 3Com may make improvements or
changes in the product(s) and/or the program(s) described in this documentation
at any time.
If there is any software on removable media described in this documentation, it
is furnished under a license agreement included with the product as a separate
document, in the hard copy documentation, or on the removable media in a
directory file named LICENSE.TXT or !LICENSE.TXT. If you are unable to locate a
copy, please contact 3Com and a copy will be provided to you.
UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT LEGEND
If you are a United States government agency, then this documentation and the
software described herein are provided to you subject to the following:
All technical data and computer software are commercial in nature and
developed solely at private expense. Software is delivered as “Commercial
Computer Software” as defined in DFARS 252.227-7014 (June 1995) or as a
“commercial item” as defined in FAR 2.101(a) and as such is provided with only
such rights as are provided in 3Com’s standard commercial license for the
Software. Technical data is provided with limited rights only as provided in DFAR
252.227-7015 (Nov 1995) or FAR 52.227-14 (June 1987), whichever is
applicable. You agree not to remove or deface any portion of any legend
provided on any licensed program or documentation contained in, or delivered to
you in conjunction with, this User Guide.
Unless otherwise indicated, 3Com registered trademarks are registered in the
United States and may or may not be registered in other countries.
3Com, the 3Com logo and OfficeConnect are registered trademarks of
3Com Corporation.
Microsoft, MS-DOS, Windows, and Windows NT are registered trademarks of
Microsoft Corporation. Novell and NetWare are registered trademarks of
Novell, Inc.
All other company and product names may be trademarks of the respective
companies with which they are associated.
Please e-mail any comments about this document to 3Com at:
[e-mail]. Please include the document title
(OfficeConnect Dual Speed Switch 4, Switch 8, Switch 16 User Guide),
part number (DUA1673-4AAA05) and if appropriate, the page number.
3C16734_Booklet.book Page ii Monday, February 21, 2000 4:47 PM

3
Introduction 5
Creating your Network 6
Dual Speed Switch 4—Front 6
Dual Speed Switch 8 and Dual Speed 16—Front 7
All Units—Rear 8
How the Switch Can Be Used 9
Switching 9
Connecting 10BASE-T and 100BASE-TX Networks 10
Before You Start 10
Unit Connections 10
Workstation Connections 11
Twisted Pair (TP) Cables 11
Stacking the Units Together 12
The Rubber Feet 12
The Stacking Clip 12
Positioning Your Switch 13
Securing Your Switch 13
Connecting Workstations and Other Equipment to Your
Switch 14
Connecting OfficeConnect Units to Your Switch 14
Checking Unit Connections 15
Spot Checks 15
Problem Solving 16
Networking Terminology 18
Dimensions and Standards 19
Dimensions and Operating Conditions 19
Standards 19
Environmental Statements 20
End Of Life Statement 20
Regulated Materials Statement 20
Environmental Statement about the Documentation 20
Environmental Statement about the Product Packaging 20
Important Safety Information 21
Wichtige Sicherheitshinweise 22
Consignes importantes de sécurité23
Technical Support 24
Online Technical Services 24
World Wide Web Site 24
3Com Knowledgebase Web Services 24
Support from Your Network Supplier 25
Support from 3Com 25
Returning Products for Repair 28
3Com Corporation Limited Warranty 29
Regulatory Notices 31
3C16734_Booklet.book Page 3 Monday, February 21, 2000 4:47 PM

4
3C16734_Booklet.book Page 4 Monday, February 21, 2000 4:47 PM

5
INTRODUCTION
Welcome to the world of networking with 3Com®. In the
modern business environment, communication and sharing
information is crucial. Computer networks have proved to
be one of the fastest modes of communication but until
recently, only large businesses could afford the networking
advantage. The OfficeConnect®product range from 3Com
has changed this, bringing networks to the small office.
As the power of workstations and business applications
increases, heavier demands are made on the available
network bandwidth that if unchecked, can lead to
performance problems in a hub-based setup. Installing the
OfficeConnect Dual Speed Switch 4 (3C16733A), Switch 8
(3C16734B) or Switch 16 (3C16735B) allows your network
to be segmented so that traffic can be contained effectively,
reducing the overall load without affecting access to critical
resources.
When referring to the Switch 4, Switch 8 and Switch 16,
this guide uses the term ‘Switch’.
The Switch is ideal for use with other OfficeConnect
products, as shown in Figure 1. It is compact and
attractively designed for desktop use. The Switch is part of
the OfficeConnect range which neatly stack together with
the OfficeConnect Stacking Clip.
Figure 1 Small Network with OfficeConnect Dual Speed Switch
(Circle Shows Units Clipped Together)
The Switch has four, eight or sixteen 10/100BASE-TX ports.
This allows you to set up a network with both 10BASE-T
and 100BASE-TX hubs and workstations.
OfficeConnect Switch
10BASE-T
OfficeConnect hub
100BASE-TX
OfficeConnect hub
3C16734_Booklet.book Page 5 Monday, February 21, 2000 4:47 PM

6
CREATING YOUR NETWORK
Dual Speed Switch 4—Front
3C16734_Booklet.book Page 6 Monday, February 21, 2000 4:47 PM

7
Dual Speed Switch 8 and Dual Speed 16—Front
3C16734_Booklet.book Page 7 Monday, February 21, 2000 4:47 PM

8
All Units—Rear
3C16734_Booklet.book Page 8 Monday, February 21, 2000 4:47 PM

9
How the Switch Can Be Used
Switching
When a network of repeater hubs is in operation, any
information that is sent by the workstations is passed
around the whole network (regardless of the destination of
the information). This can result in a lot of unnecessary
traffic that can slow the network down. The Switch solves
this problem because it ‘listens’to the network and
automatically learns what workstations can be reached
through its ports. It can then selectively pass on any
information by transmitting the traffic from the relevant port
only (instead of all ports like a repeater hub). This operation
is called ‘switching’.
The Switch effectively divides up your network, localizing
the network traffic and passing on traffic as necessary (as
shown in Figure 2). If you have workstations that
communicate frequently in the same part of the network,
traffic between them is not passed on unnecessarily to the
remainder of the network, thereby reducing the load. If you
have any high performance workstations that require a lot
of bandwidth, connect them directly to the Switch.
Figure 2 The Switch Separates Your Network and Controls the
Information Effectively
OfficeConnect Switch
100BASE-TX
High performance
workstation
10BASE-T
OfficeConnect hub
100BASE-TX
OfficeConnect
hub
3C16734_Booklet.book Page 9 Monday, February 21, 2000 4:47 PM

10
Connecting 10BASE-T and 100BASE-TX Networks
The 10/100 ports can each be connected to either a
10BASE-T or 100BASE-TX network. If you have both types
of network, you can join them together using the Switch
allowing all your workstations to communicate.
Alternatively, if you use 10BASE-T and want to improve
network performance by introducing 100BASE-TX
technology, the Switch protects your existing workstations
because it maintains 10BASE-T connections to them.
Before You Start
Your OfficeConnect Dual Speed Switch comes with:
■One power adapter for use with the Switch.
■A Product Registration card for you to fill in and return.
■Four rubber feet.
■A stacking clip.
■Two unit labels and eight cable ties.
■An OfficeConnect Network Assistant CD-ROM.
The extra parts mentioned in the next section are not
supplied with the Swtich.
Unit Connections
To connect OfficeConnect units (such as hubs and other
switches) to your Switch, you need:
■One suitable TP cable for each unit.
3C16734_Booklet.book Page 10 Monday, February 21, 2000 4:47 PM