Workgroup Products BayStack 350 10/100/1000 Switches Overview Features and Benefits

Nortel Networks introduces the next generation of the most successful workgroup switches ever. Completely redesigned for faster throughput, support for high-speed uplink options, and leading-edge software features, new BayStack* 350 Switches carry on the Nortel Networks tradition of affordable, high-performance workgroup switching.

BayStack 350 Switches support 10/100 autosensing on all UTP ports, for seamless migration to 100 Mbps connections without time-consuming trips to the wiring closet whenever end stations are upgraded to Fast Ethernet. To further simplify network setups, all ports also automatically sense half- or full-duplex connections for high-speed server or switch-to-switch configurations.

BayStack 350-12T and BayStack 350-24T Switches feature 12 and 24 10BASE-T/100BASE-TX ports respectively (see Table 1). For high-bandwidth traffic to the network core, both switches offer a Media Dependent Adapter (MDA) slot for Gigabit Ethernet, Fast Ethernet fiber, 10/100 autosense Ethernet, and future ATM ports.

Flexible Choices in High-Speed Uplinks
MDAs for Gigabit Ethernet, Fast Ethernet fiber, four additional 10/100 autosense ports, or future ATM uplinks provide the high-bandwidth choices that fit into any network architecture (see Figure 1).

Figure 1:           BayStack 350 10/100/1000 Switches provide high-bandwidth connections to servers and the network center.

Redundant Gigabit Uplink Option
The Gigabit Ethernet MDA is available with LinkSafe,* which provides two physical fiber connectors for the Gigabit uplink. Upon primary path failure, traffic is diverted to the redundant path in microseconds, protecting critical Gigabit Ethernet connections to servers or the network center.

Wire-Speed Throughput
2.5 Gigabit per second (Gbps) switching fabric and custom switching ASICs support full 802.1D-compliant MAC Layer frame forwarding and filtering across all ports at the peak rate of 3 million packets per second. The BayStack 350 Switches continue the Nortel Networks tradition of industry-leading throughput performance.

10/100 Autosensing on Every Port
Every UTP port on the BayStack 350 Switches is equipped with autosense technology to automatically detect and support the speed and mode of a connected device. In addition to detecting whether a connected device is operating at 10 Mbps or 100 Mbps, and automatically adjusting to the optimal speed, each switched port also automatically detects and supports full-duplex connections to servers, power-user end stations or other switches, as well as half-duplex connections to legacy NICs or hubs.

802.1Q VLAN Trunking
VLAN trunking is supported on every port of the switch, allowing efficient means of transporting broadcast domains across switches.

802.1p Priority Queuing
Standards-based priority queuing enables prioritization of traffic by protocol, so important network traffic always get through.

MultiLink Trunking
Up to four ports can be "trunked" together to provide a high-bandwidth, full-duplex trunk of up to 800 Mbps capacity. MultiLink Trunking also provides load-balancing and fail-over protection for important connections to other switches or servers: if one of the trunked links should fail, the remaining links in a MultiLink Trunk will still be available. Up to six separate MultiLink Trunks can be configured per switch.

IGMP Snooping
The BayStack 350 Switches feature a new level of efficient IP MultiCast support by examining ("snooping") all IGMP traffic in hardware at line rate, and pruning unwanted data streams from affecting network or end station performance.

Enterprise-Size MAC Address Table
BayStack 350 Switches support more than 16,000 MAC addresses per switch for deployment of large-scale enterprise networks with many attached devices and workgroups connected to each switch. (In a full 802.1Q environment, up to 32,000 MAC addresses are supported.)

Supports Spanning Tree Protocol
BayStack 350 Switches include built-in support for Spanning Tree Protocol (IEEE 802.1D), which detects and eliminates logical loops in the network. When multiple paths exist, the switch will automatically place some ports on standby to form a network with the most efficient traffic pathways, avoiding the continual looping of frames.

Fully Integrated into Optivity Network Management Software¹
BayStack 350 Switches feature built-in support for Optivity* network management software, enabling complete Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) and RMON monitoring and control. Network administrators can manage the entire network, including all hubs, switches, and routers, from a single management station, dramatically reducing the network total cost of ownership.

Web-Based Management¹
BayStack 350 Switches include built-in Web-based network management, so network administrators can easily monitor the status and access data about their network via the local corporate intranet, or from any World Wide Web-connected PC, anywhere in the world.

Other Advanced Management Features

• Adjustable rate limits protect the LAN against broadcast or multicast storms that can severely limit performance.
  
  
• BootP and TFTP support allows centralized switch IP address assignment, software upgrades, and SNMP agent updates over the network.

BaySecure Secure LAN Access¹
BaySecure* allows authentication of all access, not only to the switches for management and configuration, but to the infrastructure through these switches. Integrated with DHCP and other IP services from Nortel Networks, this software feature protects the network from unauthorized access, with full tracking of network connections.

Concurrent RMON on Every Port
This enables standards-based RMON managers and Optivity applications to manage the network, as well as the device, with four groups of RMON (Alarms, Events, History, and Statistics) on every port.

Enhanced Port Mirroring
Port mirroring enables detailed RMON 1 and RMON 2 analysis of switched traffic using the Nortel Networks StackProbe* or other external LAN analyzers connected to any port on the switch. Port mirroring copies packets flowing through a specified port and sends the replicated data to the probe for in-depth analysis of switched traffic patterns to trouble-shoot problems and optimize network configurations.

RJ-45 Connectors Wired for MDI-X
All 10/100 autosense Ethernet port connectors are wired for MDI-X connections to other devices. Inexpensive straight-through unshielded twisted pair (UTP) cables can be used to provide switch connections to servers, desktops, and internetworking devices.

Recovery Configuration File Support
The configuration file feature allows for storing of switch or stack configuration parameters on a TFTP server. Configuration parameters can be retrieved automatically to configure a replacement switch or stack with the same configuration. For new installations or when a switch has failed, this feature saves time in reconfiguring another switch or stack.

Year 2000 Compliant
This product has been tested and certified Year 2000 compliant by Nortel Networks according to the test cases identified in Nortel Networks Year 2000 Test Strategy/Plan.