FORE Systems ES-2810 Ethernet Switch User’s Manual
A - 9
Concepts in Switching
Concepts in Switching
NOTE
To use full-duplex communication, both ends of
the connection must be configured to operate in
full-duplex mode, and the connecting device
must have a full-duplex adapter installed. Full-
duplex operation is only possible on point-to-
point Ethernet connections that use separate
conductors or fibers for transmit and receive,
such as 10Base-T and 100Base-FX cabling. Full-
duplex operation is not possible on connections
using coaxial or AUI (10Base-5) cables or with
most hubs.
A.3.2 When to Use Full-duplex
Some servers perform better using full-duplex because they simultaneously handle traffic
from many clients: some are transmitting data to the server, while others are receiving data
from the server. Switch-to-switch connections certainly benefit from full-duplex transmission.
Individual workstations normally run applications traditionally written for half-duplex,
request/response network connections, and are unlikely to benefit from being configured as
full-duplex. For example, the application may request a service on a server and then wait for a
reply before continuing operations. In this case, if the server connection was full-duplex, the
server might respond to the request while simultaneously receiving from another station; a
full-duplex connection for the workstation would typically offer no advantage.
A.3.3 Auto Duplex
Auto duplex negotiates whether the attached device is transmitting in half- or full-duplex,
and then automatically changes that port to that mode.
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