Analysing EtherChannel
September 2001
Fieldbus & Industrial Networking
In today's networks, bandwidth has become the primary focus of IT managers as they try to plan for the current and future needs of users. The availability of information and deployment of video technology over both the Internet and the company intranet have created problems with bandwidth. This increased traffic is typically seen on the backbone of networks that also carry mission-critical programs. Creating a dedicated path between mission-critical machines and end stations/users is often not an option. As a result, IT managers are faced with solving this problem with a minimal amount of money, using current equipment and current cabling.
EtherChannel is an 803.3-based full-duplex technology that provides network managers with the ability to create fast, reliable, high-speed backbones using existing cabling and network device infrastructure. Groups of up to four full-duplex point-to-point links are joined to create a logical channel for both Fast Ethernet and Gigabit technologies. For Fast Ethernet, Fast EtherChannel increments the channel speed by 200 Mbps per physical link, up to a total of 800 Mbps. For gigabit, Giga EtherChannel increments the channel speed by 2 Gbps per physical link, up to a total of 8 Gbps.
EtherChannel links can be established between the bridge ports of a bridge, the router interfaces of a router or the interfaces of a network server. These links are managed and load balanced by port aggregation protocol (PagP). PagP will automatically redirect and load-balance the remaining links if a link should fail. Besides bandwidth, this fault tolerance is one of the major benefits of EtherChannel.
Because EtherChannel is comprised of several links, the ability for complete monitoring, diagnosis and troubleshooting with synchronised time stamping across all links is impossible for most analysers on the market. WWG's DominoFast-Ethernet and DominoGigabit are not like most analysers. They have the common characteristics that are found in the Domino family of internetwork analysers:
* Stackable (up to 8) - up to eight Domino analysers can be stacked and controlled locally by one PC or remotely using DominoServer.
* Synchronised time stamps - all the Domino analysers in a stack have synchronised time stamps, so analysis can be performed across segments, devices and networks.
* Ability to monitor, capture, transmit and examine traffic - each Domino analyser has the ability to monitor traffic, providing statistics on the network; capture traffic for analysis; transmit frames to test the network health; and examine the traffic that was captured, or realtime as the frames enter the buffer.
* Common GUI - Domino analysers share the same GUI or 'look and feel', so users familiar with one topology have little trouble navigating and performing similar tasks in other topologies.
* Hardware and software filters - by having pre-capture (hardware) and post-capture (software) filters, the user can ensure that the data being captured concerns only the device(s) they are interested in.
* Post-Capture advanced search abilities - with Examine, a user can quickly set up a filter and search criteria by a few clicks of the mouse button or they can do complex Boolean searches.
Wavetek Wandel Goltermann
(011) 266 1817
Further reading:
Comprehensive solutions for the food and beverage sector
RS South Africa
Fieldbus & Industrial Networking
RS South Africa is reinforcing its commitment to the country’s dynamic food and beverage sector, backed by a comprehensive portfolio of over 800 000 products, extensive technical expertise and end-to-end service capabilities.
Read more...
Case History 198: Cascade control overcomes valve problems
Michael Brown Control Engineering
Fieldbus & Industrial Networking
A large petrochemical refinery asked me to perform an audit on several critical base layer control loops. This article deals with a problem found on a valve controlling the flow of fuel to a heat exchanger.
Read more...
Improved networking technology for fire and gas detection
Omniflex Remote Monitoring Specialists
Fieldbus & Industrial Networking
Critical alarm and event management technology supplier, Omniflex has worked with the South African Nuclear Energy Corporation to upgrade equipment providing digital and analogue signals for its safety critical fire and gas alarm systems.
Read more...
PC-based control for fertiliser
Beckhoff Automation
Editor's Choice Fieldbus & Industrial Networking
On a farm in the USA, valuable ammonia is extracted from slurry and processed into ammonium sulphate. NSI Byosis has transformed this complex process into a flexible modular system. This modular approach requires an automation solution with flexible scalability in both hardware and software, which this Dutch company has found in PC-based control from Beckhoff.
Read more...
Loop signature 28: Things to consider when tuning.
Michael Brown Control Engineering
Editor's Choice Fieldbus & Industrial Networking
I was giving a course at a remote mine in the middle of the Namibian desert. We were discussing tuning responses, and as I always do on my courses, I mentioned that in my opinion ¼ amplitude damped tuning is not desirable, and is in fact not good.
Read more...
How industrial network design impacts ESG commitments
Omniflex Remote Monitoring Specialists
Fieldbus & Industrial Networking
In safety-critical industries like nuclear, petrochemical and oil and gas, installing a new industrial cable network is an extremely complicated task. Gary Bradshaw, a director of industrial network specialist, Omniflex explains why this is often unnecessary as plants are likely to have existing cabling capable of being used to create new industrial networks.
Read more...
Minelert industrial solutions
Fieldbus & Industrial Networking
Profitek provides cutting-edge industrial networking, automation and IoT solutions for harsh environments.
Read more...
The ultimate industrial LoRaWAN gateway
Fieldbus & Industrial Networking
The GW-101-LORA-4AO is the ultimate industrial LoRaWAN gateway, combining advanced IoT connectivity with expandable I/O.
Read more...
Industrial Power-over-Ethernet DC injector
Fieldbus & Industrial Networking
The ML-NET-INJECT series sets the standard for industrial PoE, featuring IP68-rated RJ45 connectors and military-grade components for extreme reliability.
Read more...
Industrial networking IO-Link
Fieldbus & Industrial Networking
Balluff IO-Link Network Modules enable seamless, intelligent communication between sensors, actuators and control systems. Designed for Industry 4.0, they provide real-time data exchange, simplify wiring, and enhance diagnostics.
Read more...
printer friendly version