1-2 
 
In case of a Combo port, only one interface (either the optical port or the electrical port) is active at a 
time. That is, once the optical port is active, the electrical port will be inactive automatically, and vice 
versa. 
 
Basic Ethernet Interface Configuration 
Configuring an Ethernet interface 
Three types of duplex modes are available to Ethernet interfaces: 
z  Full-duplex mode (full). Interfaces operating in this mode can send and receive packets 
simultaneously. 
z  Half-duplex mode (half). Interfaces operating in this mode can either send or receive packets at a 
given time. 
z  Auto-negotiation mode (auto). Interfaces operating in this mode determine their duplex mode 
through auto-negotiation. 
Similarly, if you configure the transmission rate for an Ethernet interface by using the speed command 
with the auto keyword specified, the transmission rate is determined through auto-negotiation too. For 
a Gigabit Ethernet interface, you can specify the transmission rate by its auto-negotiation capacity. For 
details, refer to 
Configuring an Auto-negotiation Transmission Rate. 
Follow these steps to configure an Ethernet interface: 
To do…  Use the command…  Remarks 
Enter system view  system-view  — 
Enter Ethernet 
interface view 
interface interface-type 
interface-number 
— 
Set the description 
string 
description text 
Optional 
By default, the description of an interface 
is the interface name followed by the 
“interface” string, GigabitEthernet1/0/1 
Interface for example.   
Set the duplex mode  duplex { auto | full | half } 
Optional  
auto by default. 
The optical interface of an SFP port and 
the electrical interface of an Ethernet port 
whose port rate is configured as 1000 
Mbps do not support the half keyword. 
Set the transmission 
rate 
speed { 10 | 100 | 1000 | auto }
Optional 
The optical interface of an SFP port does 
not support the 10 or 100 keyword.   
  By default, the port speed is in the 
auto-negotiation mode.