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Conference netcad::hub_mgnt

Title:	DEChub/HUBwatch/PROBEwatch CONFERENCE
Notice:	Firmware -2, Doc -3, Power -4, HW kits -5, firm load -6&7
Moderator:	NETCAD::COLELLADT

Created:	Wed Nov 13 1991
Last Modified:	Fri Jun 06 1997
Last Successful Update:	Fri Jun 06 1997
Number of topics:	4455
Total number of notes:	16761

572.0. "Etherswitch in DEChub900" by STKAI1::KYLANDER () Sat Dec 18 1993 12:21

Hello!
    
Two questions from a customer:
    
    My customer will use 10Mbit per user and ofcourse we can achieve this
    with the DECbridge 900MX (6 Ethernet to 1 FDDI).
     
    1)But will we be able (with som future product) to switch Ethernet
    to Ethernet channels in DEChub 900 to achieve better bandwidth
    (like the Gigaswitch does with FDDI) ?
    
    Kalpana, 3COM have a Etherswitch product!
    
    Are the DEChub900 MULTISWITCH  just a marketing thing ? (only per port
    switching on repeater port level!)
    
    2)  Can we today or will we be able to run data compression on routing
    protocols within some DEChub Brouter/Router products ?

T.R	Title	User	Personal Name	Date	Lines
572.1		QUIVER::GALLAGHER		`Wed Dec 22 1993 18:29`	28
	Well, I was waiting for someone more knowledgeable about future directions of the DEChub 900 to answer this but there seems to be no takers. > 1)But will we be able (with som future product) to switch Ethernet > to Ethernet channels in DEChub 900 to achieve better bandwidth > (like the Gigaswitch does with FDDI) ? There are no such products planned. The DEChub 900 Multiswitch does not have an active switching matrix on the backplane. Instead, it has "technology independent LAN segments". You can connect various module's ports and interfaces to various internal backplane LANs. (Connecting repeater ports is known as "port-switching". Another generic term for connecting ports and interfaces is "LAN-hopping" -- though that's an engineering term, not a marketing term. For example, connecting bridge interfaces to various backplane segements is "LAN-hopping".) I'm not sure how future ATM products will use the backplane. > Are the DEChub900 MULTISWITCH just a marketing thing ? (only per port > switching on repeater port level!) I was told that the term MultiSwitch was not well defined. There are other hubs (I'm told) like the DEChub 900 which also claim to be switching hubs. Maybe a marketeer can answer this question. Besides per-port repeater switching there is the "LAN-hopping" ability. -Shawn
572.2		LEMAN::CHEVAUX	Patrick Chevaux @GEO, DTN 821-4150	`Tue Jan 04 1994 10:00`	6
	.0� 1)But will we be able (with som future product) to switch Ethernet .0� to Ethernet channels in DEChub 900 to achieve better bandwidth .0� (like the Gigaswitch does with FDDI) ? .0� Kalpana, 3COM have a Etherswitch product! Isn't this what 'personal Ethernet' will be offering ? or am I confused
572.3		QUIVER::SLAWRENCE		`Tue Jan 04 1994 14:04`	6
	'Personal Ethernet' is a multi-port bridge, where each port is meant to be a single station and (some number of) ports connect to backplane ethernets. It is not in the very near future though, and the schedule still has some important unknowns in it. I'll leave the product management types to comment further...
572.4		OTOOA::HYNDMAN	Acronym Decoder Ring Architect	`Wed Jan 05 1994 13:26`	11
	I'm very interested in the answer to this question. Synernetics is shipping ESM ethernet shipping modules in utp and fiber. Cabletron has ESXMIMs switching modules as well. This is the hot ticket for lan based servers without the expense of FDDI and fiber. In my last engagement at Northern Telecom as their network manager, I bought $250KUS worth of the stuff in 3 months. Dec didn't have anything comparable. What a shame a Digital Consultant can't direct business to DEC. Scott
572.5	DEChub 900 will have "Ethernet switching" later	MUDDY::WATERS		`Thu Jan 06 1994 11:31`	31
	>> 1)But will we be able (with som future product) to switch Ethernet >> to Ethernet channels in DEChub 900 to achieve better bandwidth >> (like the Gigaswitch does with FDDI) ? > >There are no such products planned. The DEChub 900 Multiswitch does not >have an active switching matrix on the backplane. As far as I know, the Personal Ethernet products are multiport bRouters (not just bridges). I am not aware that we've program-announced the functionality of the Personal Ethernet products. We have program- announced a nameless DEChub 900 option that provides packet switching between 6 Ethernet ports and 1 ATM port. Presumably, we've program- announced a 6-Ethernet, 1-FDDI DEChub 900 option as well. (No specific release dates or prices or detailed features have been announced, of course.) An "Ethernet switch" is any device that relays packets among multiple Ethernet ports. Essentially every Ethernet switch includes bridge- style packet processing. Some "switch" devices are bRouters as well. By the marketing definition of "switch", it doesn't matter what backplane technology is used to carry the packets (a bus or a "space switch"). A "switch" may not offer expansion over a backplane at all. So DEChub 900 will certainly have Ethernet switching as soon as the Personal Ethernet options hit the street. The packet switching will use a bus-oriented backplane technology, featuring no single point of failure (as far as I know). By comparison, the GIGAswitch FDDI switch has a crossbar-switch backplane architecture. (The nature of the expansion bus for Personal Ethernet options is not public information. Digital internal use only, etc.)