HP (Hewlett-Packard) 2500 Laptop User Manual


 
2-23
Installing the Series 2300 and 2500 Switches
Sample Network Topologies
Installing the Series 2300
and 2500 Switches
As a Segment Switch
The Series 2300 and 2500 switches also work well as segment switches. That
is, with their high performance, they can be used for interconnecting network
segmentssimply connect the network hubs that form those segments to the
switches, or you can also connect other switches.
In the illustration above, two Fast Ethernet hubs with PCs, printers, and local
servers attached, are both connected to a Switch 2512. The devices attached
to the two hubs can now communicate with each other through the switch.
They can also all communicate with the server that is connected to the switch
through a 100/1000-T Transceiver installed in the switch.
Because the Series 2300 and 2500 switches have the HP Auto-MDIX feature,
the connections between the switch and the hubs, and between the switch
and end nodes or servers can be through category 5 straight-through or
crossover twisted-pair cable. Category 3 or 4 cable can also be used if the
connection is 10 Mbps only. In all cases, the device ports must be configured
to auto negotiate the link characteristics for this feature to work.
The switch, in turn, can be connected to a network backbone through fiber-
optic cabling connected to a Gigabit-SX/LX transceiver installed in the switch.
Now, all the devices on these network segments can access other network
resources that are connected elsewhere on the network backbone.
Gigabit
fiber-optic cable
to backbone
Fast
Ethernet
Hubs
PCs,
printers,
and local
servers
Switch 2512
Server with
Gigabit
Ethernet NIC
twisted-pair
straight-through
cables to
end nodes
twisted-pair straight-
through or crossover
cables to hubs
category 5 twisted-pair straight-through or
crossover cable for 1000 Mbps connection to server
2353-ed2.book Page 23 Friday, February 9, 2001 6:00 PM