Dell PowerConnect 5424 User manual

www.dell.com | support.dell.com
Dell™ PowerConnect™
54xx Systems
User Guide

Notes, Cautions and Warnings
NOTE: A NOTE indicates important information that helps you make better use of computer.
CAUTION: A CAUTION indicates potential damage to hardware or loss of data if instructions are not followed.
WARNING: A WARNING indicates a potential for property damage, personal injury, or death.
____________________
Information in this document is subject to change without notice.
© 2007–2008 Dell Inc. All rights reserved.
Reproduction of these materials in any manner whatsoever without the written permission of Dell Inc. is strictly forbidden.
Trademarks used in this text: Axim, Dell, the DELL logo, DellNet, Dell OpenManage, Dell Precision, Dimension,Inspiron, Latitude, OptiPlex,
PowerConnect, PowerApp, and PowerVault are trademarks of Dell Inc. Microsoft and Windows are either trademarks or registered trademarks
of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and/or other countries.
Other trademarks and trade names may be used in this document to refer to either the entities claiming the marks and names or their products.
Dell Inc. disclaims any proprietary interest in trademarks and trade names other than its own.
December2008 Rev. A01

Contents 3
Contents
1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
PowerConnect 54xx Series Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Features . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
General Features . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
MAC Address Supported Features . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Layer 2 Features . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
VLAN Supported Features . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
Spanning Tree Protocol Features. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
Link Aggregation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
Layer 3 Features . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
Quality of Service Features . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
Device Management Features . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
Security Features . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
Locked Port Support . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
Additional CLI Documentation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
2 Hardware Description . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
Device Port Configurations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
PowerConnect 54xx Series Systems Front Panel
Port Description. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
PowerConnect Back Panel Port Description . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
Device Ports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
Physical Dimensions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
LED Definitions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
Port LEDs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
System LEDs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
Hardware Components. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
Power Supplies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
Reset Button . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
Ventilation System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30

4Contents
3 Installing the PowerConnect Device . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
Installation Precautions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
Site Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
Unpacking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
Package Contents. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
Unpacking the Device . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
Mounting the Device. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
Mounting the System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
Installing the Device without a Rack . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
Connecting the Device . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
Connecting a Device to a Terminal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
Connecting a Device to a Power Supply . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
Port Connections, Cables, and Pinout Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
RJ-45 Connections for 10/100/1000BaseT Ports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
Port Default Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
Auto-Negotiation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
MDI/MDIX. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
Flow Control. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
Back Pressure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
Switching Port Default Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
4 Starting and Configuring the Device . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
Configure the Terminal. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
Booting the Device. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
Initial Configuration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
Advanced Configuration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
Retrieving an IP Address From a DHCP Server . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
Receiving an IP Address From a BOOTP Server. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
Security Management and Password Configuration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49

Contents 5
Configuring Security Passwords . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
Configuring an Initial Terminal Password . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
Configuring an Initial Telnet Password . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
Configuring an Initial SSH Password . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
Configuring an Initial HTTP Password . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
Configuring an Initial HTTPS Password . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
Configuring Login Banners . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
Startup Procedures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
Startup Menu Procedures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
Software Download. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
Erase FLASH File . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
Erasing the Device Configuration. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
Password Recovery. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
Software Download Through TFTP Server . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
5 Using Dell OpenManage Switch Administrator . . . . . . . . . 59
Understanding the Interface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
Device Representation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
Using the Switch Administrator Buttons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
Information Buttons. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
Device Management Buttons. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
Starting the Application . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
Accessing the Device Through the CLI . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
Console Connection. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
Telnet Connection. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
Using the CLI . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
Command Mode Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
User EXEC Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
Privileged EXEC Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
Global Configuration Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
Interface Configuration Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
CLI Examples . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66

6Contents
6 Configuring System Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
Defining General Device Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
Viewing Device Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
Defining System Time Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71
Viewing System Health Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
Viewing the Versions Page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
Resetting the Device . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80
Configuring SNTP Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81
Defining SNTP Global Parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82
Defining SNTP Authentication Methods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84
Defining SNTP Servers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86
Defining SNTP Interfaces. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91
Managing Logs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93
Defining Global Log Parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93
Displaying RAM Log Table . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97
Displaying the Log File Table . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99
Viewing the Device Login History. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101
Configuring the Remote Log Server Settings Page. . . . . . . . . . . . 102
Defining Device IP Addresses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107
Configuring the Internet Protocol Version 6 (IPv6) . . . . . . . . . . . . 107
Defining IPv4 Default Gateways . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108
Defining IPv4 Interfaces . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109
Defining DHCP IPv4 Interface Parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113
Defining IPv6 Interfaces . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115
Defining IPv6 Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120
Defining IPv6 ISATAP Tunnels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123
Defining IPv6 Neighbors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125
Viewing the IPv6 Routes Table . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129
Configuring Domain Name Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132
Defining Default Domains. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135
Mapping Domain Host . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136
Configuring ARP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139
Running Cable Diagnostics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 142
Viewing Copper Cable Diagnostics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 142
Viewing Optical Transceiver Diagnostics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145

Contents 7
Managing Device Security . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147
Defining Access Profiles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147
Adding an Access Profile. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149
Defining Authentication Profiles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 154
Assigning Authentication Profiles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 157
Managing Passwords. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161
Viewing Active Users . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 164
Defining the Local User Databases. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165
Defining Line Passwords . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 168
Defining Enable Passwords. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 170
Defining TACACS+ Settings. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 171
Configuring RADIUS Global Parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 176
Configuring LLDP and LLDP-MED . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 181
Defining LLDP Properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 182
Configuring LLDP Using CLI Commands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 183
Defining LLDP Port Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 183
Defining LLDP MED Network Policy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 186
Defining LLDP MED Port Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 188
Viewing the LLDP Neighbors Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 192
Defining SNMP Parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 194
Defining SNMP Global Parameters. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 194
Defining SNMP View Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 197
Adding a View. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 199
Defining SNMP Views Using CLI Commands. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 200
Defining SNMP Access Control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 200
Defining SNMP Groups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 202
Displaying the Access Table . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 202
Removing SNMP Groups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 203
Defining SNMP Access Control Using CLI Commands. . . . . . . . . . 203
Assigning SNMP User Security . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 203
Adding Users to a Group . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 205
Displaying the User Security Model Table . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 206
Deleting an User Security Model Table Entry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 206
Defining Communities. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 207
Defining Notification Filters. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 212
Defining SNMP Notification Recipients . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 214

8Contents
Managing Files. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 220
File Management Overview. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 220
Downloading Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 221
Uploading Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 224
Copying Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 227
Managing Device Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 229
Defining Advanced Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 230
Configuring General Device Tuning Parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . 231
Optimizing iSCSI . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 232
Configuring iSCSI Global Parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 232
Defining iSCSI Global Parameters Using CLI Commands . . . . . . . . 234
Managing iSCSI Targets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 236
Defining iSCSI Targets Using CLI Commands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 237
Monitoring iSCSI Sessions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 238
Defining iSCSI Sessions Using CLI Commands. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 239
7 Configuring Device Information. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 241
Configuring Network Security. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 241
Configuring Advanced Port Based Authentication. . . . . . . . . . . . 248
Authenticating Users . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 251
Configuring Port Security . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 252
ACL Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 256
Defining MAC Based Access Control Lists. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 263
Defining ACL Binding . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 267
Configuring DHCP Snooping . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 269
Defining DHCP Snooping on VLANs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 272
Defining Trusted Interfaces. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 273
Adding Interfaces to the DHCP Snooping Database . . . . . . . . . . . 275
Configuring Ports. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 278
Defining Port Parameters. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 278
Configuring Load Balancing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 284
Enabling Storm Control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 289
Defining Port Mirroring Sessions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 292

Contents 9
Configuring Address Tables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 295
Viewing Dynamic Addresses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 298
Configuring GARP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 301
Configuring the Spanning Tree Protocol . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 303
Defining STP Port Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 308
Defining STP LAG Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 312
Configuring Rapid Spanning Tree. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 314
Configuring Multiple Spanning Tree . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 317
Defining MSTP Interface Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 321
Configuring VLANs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 323
Defining VLAN Ports Settings. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 331
Defining VLAN LAG Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 334
Defining VLAN Protocol Groups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 337
Adding Protocol Ports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 339
Configuring GVRP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 340
Configuring Voice VLANs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 343
Defining Voice VLAN Port Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 347
Defining OUIs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 349
Aggregating Ports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 351
Defining LAG Membership . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 354
Multicast Forwarding Support. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 355
Adding Bridge Multicast Address Members . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 358
Assigning Multicast Forward All Parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 362
IGMP Snooping . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 366
Unregistered Multicast . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 371
8 Viewing Statistics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 375
Viewing Tables. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 375
Viewing Utilization Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 375
Viewing Counter Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 376
Viewing Interface Statistics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 377
Viewing Etherlike Statistics. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 380
Viewing GVRP Statistics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 383
Viewing EAP Statistics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 387

10 Contents
Viewing RMON Statistics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 389
Viewing RMON Statistics Group . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 389
Viewing RMON History Control Statistics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 392
Viewing the RMON History Table . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 394
Defining Device RMON Events . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 396
Viewing the RMON Events Log . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 399
Defining RMON Device Alarms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 401
Viewing Charts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 404
Viewing Port Statistics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 404
Viewing LAG Statistics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 406
Viewing the CPU Utilization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 409
Viewing CPU Utilization Using CLI Commands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 410
9 Configuring Quality of Service. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 411
Defining CoS Global Parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 413
Defining QoS Interface Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 414
Defining Bandwidth Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 416
Defining Queue Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 419
Mapping CoS Values to Queues . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 422
Mapping DSCP Values to Queues . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 423
10 Device Specifications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 427
Port and Cable Specifications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 427
Port Specifications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 427
Operating Conditions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 428
Physical Device Specifications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 428

Contents 11
Device Memory Specifications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 428
Feature Specifications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 429
VLAN . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 429
Quality of Service . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 429
Layer 2 Multicast . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 429
Device Security . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 429
Additional Switching Features . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 430
Device Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 430
System Features . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 430
Glossary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 431
Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 441

12 Contents

Introduction 13
Introduction
CAUTION: Before proceeding, read the release notes for this product. The release notes can be
downloaded from support.dell.com.
This User Guide contains the information needed for installing, configuring and maintaining the
PowerConnect device.
PowerConnect 54xx Series Systems
The PowerConnect 54xx series systems have two versions: 5424 has 24 Gigabit Ethernet ports, and
5448 has 48 Gigabit Ethernet ports. There are also four SFP fiber ports that are designated as combo
port alternatives to the last four Ethernet ports. The combo ports are single ports with two physical
connections. When one is connected the other is disabled.
The following figures illustrate the PowerConnect 54xx series systems front and back panels.
Figure 1-1. PowerConnect 5424 Front Panel
Figure 1-2. PowerConnect 5448 Front Panel
Figure 1-3. PowerConnect 5424 and 5428 Back Panel

14 Introduction
Features
This section describes the device user-configured features. For a complete list of all updated device
features, refer to the latest software version Release Notes.
General Features
IP Version 6 (IPv6) Support
The device functions as an IPv6 compliant Host, as well as an IPv4 Host (also known as dual stack).
This allows device operation in a pure IPv6 network as well as in a combined IPv4/IPv6 network.
Head of Line Blocking
Head of Line (HOL) blocking results in traffic delays and frame loss caused by traffic competing for the
same egress port resources. HOL blocking queues packets, and the packets at the head of the queue are
forwarded before packets at the end of the queue.
Virtual Cable Testing (VCT)
VCT detects and reports copper link cabling occurrences, such as open cables and cable shorts.
Jumbo Frames Support
Jumbo frames enables transporting the identical data in fewer frames. Ensuring less overhead, lower
processing time, and fewer interrupts.
For information on enabling Jumbo Frames, see "Defining General Device Information" on page 67.
MDI/MDIX Support
The device supports auto-detection between crossed and straight-through cables.
Standard wiring for end stations is Media-Dependent Interface (MDI) and the standard wiring for hubs
and switches is known as Media-Dependent Interface with Crossover (MDIX).
For information on configuring MDI/MDI for ports or Link Aggregate Groups (LAGs), see "Defining
Port Parameters" on page 278 or "Configuring Load Balancing" on page 284.
Flow Control Support (IEEE 802.3X)
Flow control enables lower speed devices to communicate with higher speed devices, by requesting that
the higher speed device refrains from sending packets. Transmissions are temporarily halted to prevent
buffer overflows.
For information on configuring Flow Control for ports or LAGs, see "Defining Port Parameters" on
page 278 or "Configuring Load Balancing" on page 284.

Introduction 15
Back Pressure Support
On half-duplex links, the receiving port prevents buffer overflows by occupying the link so that it is
unavailable for additional traffic.
For information on configuring Back Pressure for ports or LAGs, see "Defining Port Parameters" on
page 278 or "Configuring Load Balancing" on page 284.
iSCSI Optimization
iSCSI is a communication protocol used for sending data between file servers and storage disks. The file
servers are called initiators and the disks are called targets. You can optimize iSCSI flow by setting
Quality of Service frame priority parameters in the device. The device can also intercept iSCSI frames
and provide information about iSCSI communications (called sessions).
For more information, see "Optimizing iSCSI" on page 232.
Voice VLAN
Voice VLAN allows network administrators to enhance VoIP service by configuring ports to carry IP voice
traffic from IP phones on a specific VLAN. VoIP traffic has a preconfigured OUI prefix in the source MAC
address. Network Administrators can configure VLANs from which voice IP traffic is forwarded. Non-VoIP
traffic is dropped from the Voice VLAN in auto Voice VLAN secure mode. Voice VLAN also provides
QoS to VoIP, ensuring that the quality of voice does not deteriorate if the IP traffic is received unevenly.
For more information, see "Configuring Voice VLANs" on page 343.
Guest VLAN
Guest VLAN provides limited network access to unauthorized ports. If a port is denied network access
via port-based authorization, but the Guest VLAN is enabled, the port receives limited network access.
MAC Address Supported Features
MAC Address Capacity Support
The device supports up to eight thousand MAC addresses. The device reserves specific MAC addresses
for system use.
Self-Learning MAC Addresses
The device enables automatic MAC address learning from incoming packets. The MAC addresses are
stored in the Bridging Table.
Automatic Aging for MAC Addresses
MAC addresses from which no traffic is received for a given period are aged out. This prevents the
Bridging Table from overflowing.
For more information on configuring the MAC Address Age Out Time, see "Configuring Address Tables"
on page 295.

16 Introduction
Static MAC Entries
User defined static MAC entries are stored in the Bridging Table.
For more information, see "Configuring Address Tables" on page 295.
VLAN-aware MAC-based Switching
Packets arriving from an unknown source address are sent to the microprocessor, where the source
addresses are added to the Hardware Table. Packets addressed to or from this address are more efficiently
forwarded using the Hardware Table.
MAC Multicast Support
Multicast service is a limited broadcast service, which allows one-to-many and many-to-many
connections for information distribution. Layer 2 Multicast service is where a single frame is addressed to
a specific Multicast address, from where copies of the frame are transmitted to the relevant ports. IGMP
Snooping is supported, including IGMP Querier which simulates the behavior of a multicast router,
allowing snooping of the layer 2 multicast domain even though there is no multicast router. When
Multicast groups are statically enabled, you can set the destination port of registered groups, as well as
define the behavior of unregistered multicast frames.
For more information, see "Multicast Forwarding Support" on page 355.
Layer 2 Features
IGMP Snooping
Internet Group Membership Protocol (IGMP) Snooping examines IGMP frame contents, when they are
forwarded by the device from work stations to an upstream Multicast router. From the frame, the device
identifies work stations configured for Multicast sessions, and which Multicast routers are sending
Multicast frames.
For more information, see "IGMP Snooping" on page 366.
Port Mirroring
Port mirroring monitors and mirrors network traffic by forwarding copies of incoming and outgoing
packets from a monitored port to a monitoring port. Users specify which target port receives copies of all
traffic passing through a specified source port.
For more information, see "Defining Port Mirroring Sessions" on page 292.
Broadcast Storm Control
Storm Control enables limiting the amount of Multicast and Broadcast frames accepted and forwarded
by the device.
When Layer 2 frames are forwarded, Broadcast and Multicast frames are flooded to all ports on the
relevant VLAN. This occupies bandwidth, and loads all nodes connected on all ports.
For more information, see "Enabling Storm Control" on page 289.

Introduction 17
VLAN Supported Features
VLAN Support
VLANs are collections of switching ports that comprise a single broadcast domain. Packets are classified
as belonging to a VLAN based on either the VLAN tag or based on a combination of the ingress port and
packet contents. Packets sharing common attributes can be grouped in the same VLAN.
For more information, see "Configuring Multiple Spanning Tree" on page 317.
Port Based Virtual LANs (VLANs)
Port-based VLANs classify incoming packets to VLANs based on their ingress port.
For more information, see "Defining VLAN Ports Settings" on page 331.
IEEE802.1V Protocol Based Virtual LANs (VLANs)
VLAN classification rules are defined on data-link layer (Layer 2) protocol identification. Protocol-based
VLANs isolate Layer 2 traffic for differing Layer 3 protocols.
For more information, see "Defining VLAN Protocol Groups" on page 337.
Full 802.1Q VLAN Tagging Compliance
IEEE 802.1Q defines an architecture for virtual bridged LANs, the services provided in VLANs and the
protocols and algorithms involved in the provision of these services. An important requirement included
in this standard is the ability to mark frames with a desired Class of Service (CoS) tag value (0-7).
QinQ
QinQ tagging allows network managers to add an additional tag to previously tagged packets. Customer
VLANs are configured using QinQ. Adding additional tags to the packets helps create more VLAN space.
The added tag provides an VLAN ID to each customer, this ensures private and segregated network
traffic. The VLAN ID tag is assigned to a customer port in the service providers network. The designated
port then provides additional services to the packets with the double-tags. This allows administrators to
expand service to VLAN users.
GVRP Support
GARP VLAN Registration Protocol (GVRP) provides IEEE 802.1Q-compliant VLAN pruning and
dynamic VLAN creation on 802.1Q trunk ports. When GVRP is enabled, the device registers and
propagates VLAN membership on all ports that are part of the active underlying "Spanning Tree Protocol
Features" on page 18 topology.
For more information, see "Configuring GVRP" on page 340.

18 Introduction
Spanning Tree Protocol Features
Spanning Tree Protocol (STP)
802.1d Spanning tree is a standard Layer 2 switch requirement that allows bridges to automatically
prevent and resolve L2 forwarding loops. Switches exchange configuration messages using specifically
formatted frames and selectively enable and disable forwarding on ports.
For more information, see "Configuring the Spanning Tree Protocol" on page 303.
Fast Link
STP can take up to 30-60 seconds to converge. During this time, STP detects possible loops, allowing
time for status changes to propagate and for relevant devices to respond. 30-60 seconds is considered too
long of a response time for many applications. The Fast Link option bypasses this delay, and can be used
in network topologies where forwarding loops do not occur.
For more information enabling Fast Link for ports and LAGs, see "Defining STP Port Settings" on
page 308 or "Defining STP LAG Settings" on page 312.
IEEE 802.1w Rapid Spanning Tree
Spanning Tree can take 30-60 seconds for each host to decide whether its ports are actively forwarding
traffic. Rapid Spanning Tree (RSTP) detects uses of network topologies to enable faster convergence,
without creating forwarding loops.
For more information, see "Configuring Rapid Spanning Tree" on page 314.
STP Root Guard
Root guard restricts the interface from functioning as the root port for the switch
Multiple Spanning Tree (MSTP)
MTSP operation maps VLAN into STP instances. Multiple spanning tree provides differing load
balancing scenario. Packet assigned to various VLANs are transmitted along different paths within
Multiple Spanning Tree Regions(MST Regions). Regions are one or more Multiple Spanning Tree
Bridges by which frames can be transmitted.
Link Aggregation
For more information, see "Aggregating Ports" on page 351.
Link Aggregation
Up to eight Aggregated Links may be defined, each with up to eight member ports, to form a single Link
Aggregated Group (LAG). This enables:
• Fault tolerance protection from physical link disruption
• Higher bandwidth connections

Introduction 19
• Improved bandwidth granularity
• High bandwidth server connectivity
LAG is composed of ports with the same speed, set to full-duplex operation.
For more information, see "Defining LAG Membership" on page 354.
Link Aggregation and LACP
LACP uses peer exchanges across links to determine, on an ongoing basis, the aggregation capability of
various links, and continuously provides the maximum level of aggregation capability achievable between
a given pair of systems. LACP automatically determines, configures, binds and monitors the port binding
to aggregators within the system.
For more information, see "Defining LACP Parameters" on page 352.
Layer 3 Features
Address Resolution Protocol (ARP)
ARP is a TCP/IP protocol that converts IP addresses into physical addresses. ARP automatically
determines Device Next-Hop MAC addresses of systems, including directly attached end systems.
Users can override and supplement this by defining additional ARP Table entries.
For more information, see "Mapping Domain Host" on page 136.
TCP
Transport Control Protocol (TCP) connections are defined between 2 ports by an initial synchronization
exchange. TCP ports are identified by an IP address and a 16-bit port number. Octets streams are divided
into TCP packets, each carrying a sequence number.
BootP and DHCP Clients
Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) enables additional setup parameters to be received from
a network server upon system startup. DHCP service is an on-going process. DHCP is an extension to BootP.
For more information on DHCP, see "Defining DHCP IPv4 Interface Parameters" on page 113.
Quality of Service Features
Class Of Service 802.1p Support
The IEEE 802.1p signaling technique is an OSI Layer 2 standard for marking and prioritizing network
traffic at the data link/MAC sub-layer. 802.1p traffic is classified and sent to the destination. No
bandwidth reservations or limits are established or enforced. 802.1p is a spin-off of the 802.1Q (VLANs)
standard. 802.1p establishes eight levels of priority, similar to the IP Precedence IP Header bit-field.
For more information, see "Configuring Quality of Service" on page 411.

20 Introduction
Device Management Features
SNMP Alarms and Trap Logs
The system logs events with severity codes and timestamps. Events are sent as Simple Network
Management Protocol (SNMP) traps to a Trap Recipient List.
For more information on SNMP Alarms and Traps, see "Configuring LLDP and LLDP-MED" on
page 181.
SNMP Version 1 and Version 2
Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) over the UDP/IP protocol. To control access to the
system, a list of community entries is defined, each of which consists of a community string and its
access privileges. There are 3 levels of SNMP security; read-only, read-write, and super. Only a super user
can access the community table.
SNMP Version 3
Access to the switch using SNMPv3 provides additional security features that cover message integrity,
authentication, and encryption; as well as controlling user access to specific areas of the MIB tree.
The SNMPv3 security structure consists of security models, with each model having it’s own security levels.
Web Based Management
With web based management, the system can be managed from any web browser. The system contains
an Embedded Web Server (EWS), which serves HTML pages, through which the system can be
monitored and configured. The system internally converts web-based input into configuration
commands, MIB variable settings and other management-related settings.
Configuration File Download and Upload
PowerConnect device configuration is stored in a configuration file. The Configuration file includes both
system wide and port specific device configuration. The system can display configuration files in the
form of a collection of CLI commands, which are stored and manipulated as text files.
For more information, see "Managing Files" on page 220.
Trivial File Transfer Protocol (TFTP)
The device supports boot image, software and configuration upload/download via TFTP.
Remote Monitoring
Remote Monitoring (RMON) is an extension to SNMP, which provides comprehensive network traffic
monitoring capabilities with support for 64 bit counters (as opposed to SNMP which allows network device
management and monitoring). RMON is a standard MIB that defines current and historical MAC-layer
statistics and control objects, allowing real-time information to be captured across the entire network.
For more information, see "Viewing RMON Statistics" on page 389.