USING THE HUB: Overview 19
USING THE HUB
Overview
The M208 Workgroup Hub/Print Server includes a fully managable and intelligent
eight port Ethernet hub. Hubs (or multi-port repeaters) are stable network devices that
perform signal regeneration (including amplification, symmetry, and retiming), packet
forwarding, and routing. When a hub is presented with a data signal, it automatically
regenerates and transmits the data signal to all the other hub ports without any modifi-
cation to the signal.
Very little configuration is required for the hub as it becomes fully operational as soon
the unit is powered up.
M208 Hub Features
The following is a list of features for the hub component of the M208:
• auto discovery/auto-sensing: the M208 automatically senses when a device is
connected to a port and begins transmitting data signals to that port,
• auto-port segmentation: the hub will automatically segment a port when the port
experiences excessive collisions or sends extremely long (illegal) Ethernet
packets,
• intelligent segmentation recovery: if a port becomes segmented due to undesirable
Ethernet activity, the port will automatically return to normal operation when the
undesirable activity disappears,
• collision detection: when two nodes try to transmit data at the same time, the
M208 will transmit a jam signal telling the nodes that a collision has occurred.
Once the collision condition is removed, the M208 terminates the jam signal and
resumes normal operation,
• cascading hubs: any port can be used to cascade M208s,
• automatic reverse receive parity to correct miswiring: the M208 can automatically
reverses the polarity of the receive pair if it senses the parity to be incorrect,
• configuration and management in a Windows environment using NPWin,
