Introduction
Page 1-6
Intelligent
Forwarding
The Asanté switching engine supports automatic fragment free
packet forwarding. Fragment free switch mode allows the
switch to make the fastest possible switching decisions without
forwarding runt packages on the network. The switch
automatically drops (or filters) illegally short packets known as
runts, which prevent bad packets from propagating across
segments. Runts are usually the result of packet collisions on a
congested network.
The Asanté switching engine also supports store and forward
switching. It will automatically choose the safest and fastest
method of switching if the source and destination are at the
same speed. If the speeds are different, such as for a 10Mbps
workstation connected to a 100Mbps server, the switch will
buffer and read the entire packet, perform a data validity check,
then forward the packet at the new speed. With Asanté
Intelligent Forwarding your FriendlyNet Switch will
automatically pick the best and fastest switching method for
you.
∆ Note: Intelligent Forwarding is an automatic fea-
ture of the IntraSwitch and cannot be altered by
the user.
Chassis Design The IntraSwitch chassis is rack-mountable and is 1.5 RU (rack
units) high.
▲ Important! Do not remove the IntraSwitch’s
cover. This will invalidate the Asanté Limited
Lifetime Warranty. Refer service to qualified ser-
vice personnel.
6216M Book Page 6 Wednesday, January 27, 1999 5:26 PM