SMC Networks has announced the latest in its range of Multilayer TigerSwitch 10/100 Fast Ethernet switches, the SMC6724ML3, which provides a number of features for flexible configuration without compromising the wire-speed performance.
"This switch can be configured as a layer 2 switch, a plug-and-play router accelerator, or a fully functional routing switch," says Greg Perkins, country manager of SMC SA. It contains 24 Ethernet/Fast Ethernet ports and supports two expansion slots for optional modules.
The new product provides wire-speed switching with advanced bridging functions such as VLAN, priority, multicast filtering, link aggregation and port mirroring.
Comprehensive network management functions are also provided, such as Spanning Tree protocol for standard bridging, GVRP for VLAN configuration and GMRP for multicast grouping. SNMP, RMON and Web management are standard features.
"In the router accelerator configuration, the switch ports are configured as router ports or network ports. Router ports monitor the configuration of the ports of a connected router and forwards traffic not yet ready or that cannot be handled. The network ports connect to networks that are originally connected by the router.
"The switch learns network configuration information from the router ports automatically, then accelerates the traffic by forwarding the data among network ports without sending them through the router," says Perkins. In the standard multi-layer configuration, the SMC6724ML3 is configured as a standard IP router that routes IP traffic at wire speed. Advanced router management and configuration are performed via standard protocols and proprietary schemes.
"The switch can use the VLAN feature to construct virtual network configurations such that subnets are not bound by physical configurations. It also supports IP multicasting for multimedia applications," he concludes.
Share
