User's Guide

Accessing the switch

This chapter explains the types of connections that you can use to physically access the switch. Once the connection is established, you will configure the IP information (either through the terminal interface or through DHCP or BootP), and then choose which user interface you want to use to manage it. Therefore, all interfaces support configuring the switch and obtaining information from it, thus providing greater flexibility in how you manage your switch.

Types of Connectivity

There are two connection methods used to physically access the switch:

• Out-of-band connectivity, which provides access to the switch through the EIA 232 port.
• In-band connectivity, which provides access to the switch from a remote station using the Ethernet network

Table 10 outlines the user interfaces that are available depending on your method of connection.

Table 10. Connection methods and available user interfaces

Type of Connection	Available User Interface
Out-of-band	Terminal interface via the EIA 232 port (terminal directly attached, or remotely attached to modem)
In-band	Terminal interface via Telnet SNMP-based management interface Web-based management interface

Out-of-band connection

Out-of-band connection lets you access your switch through the serial EIA 232 port. It can be either through a locally attached PC running VT100 terminal emulation software, or through a remotely attached PC running VT100 terminal emulation software connected to a modem.

Locally attached terminal

To establish out-of-band connectivity using a locally attached terminal, make the physical connections and set up using the following procedure:

1. Attach one end of a null-modem cable to the EIA 232 port of the switch as shown in Figure 9, and the other end to the COM port of your PC (see Appendix C, Cable Pinout Diagrams).

   Figure 9. Out-of-band connectivity - locally attached terminal
   

   (artname: fgb0a023.EPS)

2. Configure the VT100 terminal emulation application as follows:
   • Baud rate: 19200
   • Parity: None
   • Data bits: 8
   • Stop bits: 1
   • Flow control: None
3. Log in to the terminal interface. The terminal interface requires you to log in with a user name and password. The user name can have either Read/Write or Read Only status. The default Read/Write user name is admin and the password consists of blanks (no password). The default Read Only user name is guest and the password consists of blanks (no password).
4. See Appendix D, Interface Conventions for the Console for a description of terminal interface key definitions. You may need to configure your terminal emulation application to enable the use of these keys.

Remotely attached terminal

To establish out-of-band connectivity using a remotely attached terminal, make the physical connections using the following procedure:

1. Unpack the modem and install it according to the manufacturer's instructions.
2. Attach one end of the serial cable (not provided) to the EIA 232 port of the switch and the other end to your modem as shown in Figure 10.

   Figure 10. Out-of-band connectivity - remotely attached terminal
   

   (artname: fgb0a022.EPS)

3. Set up the modem that is attached to the switch by following these steps:
   1. Configure the modem to use the same settings as those on your switch.
      • Baud rate: 19200
      • Parity: None
      • Data bits: 8
      • Stop bits: 1
      • Flow control: None
   2. Configuration command syntax varies from modem to modem. Make sure that the modem has the following characteristics:
      • Asynchronous mode
      • Disable modem response
      • Disable flow control (for example, AT \Q)
      • Disable echo (for example, AT Q1)
      • Autoanswer mode on second ring (for example, AT SO=2)
      • Dumb mode - (No response in/out AT commands). This enables it to act as a "pass thru" device (setting the modem to dumb mode [])
   3. Set up the remote modem and terminal.
   4. After configuring the modem, save the configuration.
   5. Establish a modem link as described in the modem user documentation.
   6. Login to the terminal interface. The terminal interface requires you to login with a user name with read/write or read-only status and a password. The default read/write user name is admin and the password consists of blanks (no password). The default read-only user name is guest and the password consists of blanks (no password).
   7. See Appendix D, Interface Conventions for the Console for a description of terminal interface key definitions. You may need to configure your terminal emulation application to enable use of these keys.
4. To use in-band connectivity, you must configure the switch with IP information (IP address, subnet mask, and default gateway), and the port being used to access the switch must be on the Default VLAN (VLAN 1). You can configure IP information initially by using either of these methods:
   • DHCP or BootP
   • Terminal interface via the EIA 232 port.

   To configure the IP information, see Configuring your switch for details.

In-band connection - Telnet, Web, SNMP

In-band connectivity allows access to the switch using the data network (as shown in Figure 11).

Figure 11. In-band connection

(artname: fgb0a017.EPS)

Terminal Interface - Telnet

Telnet console management can be performed through an Ethernet port (in-band connection). You must configure an IP address before using Telnet console management (Refer to Configuring your switch for initially configuring IP information for your switch.

You can use any Telnet application that emulates a VT100 terminal to establish a Telnet console management session. Up to five concurrent Telnet sessions are supported. For security, the Telnet session can be automatically logged off after a certain time of inactivity. You can configure the time of inactivity from 0 to 160 minutes; the default is 5 minutes.

The terminal interface is menu-driven and can be used to manage the switch through the EIA 232 port or a Telnet session. For security, a login user ID and password are required. Multiple user IDs and associated passwords can be created. Two levels of access privileges are supported: read/write and read only.

See Appendix D, Interface Conventions for the Console for a description of the terminal keys. You may need to configure your terminal application to enable use of these keys.

See Using the Terminal Interface for a description of the terminal interface panels.

SNMP-Based Management Interface

The switch has an SNMP agent that supports SNMP Version 1 which allows it to be managed by any SNMP-based application (for example, Nways Campus Manager which supports the MIBs that the switch supports). See Using the SNMP Interface for details about the MIBs supported by the switch.

Web-Based Management Interface

The switch has a Web server that supports HTTP 1.1 or later, and HTML 4.0 or later. Your Web browser must support HTTP 1.1 or later, HTML 4.0 or later, and JavaScript(C) 1.2.

You can use the Web interface to access and change switch parameters. Menus similar to those available through the terminal interface are also displayed by the Web browser. To access the switch from a Web browser, you must have configured the IP information for the switch. You will need a valid login user ID and password. The accepted user IDs and passwords are the same as those configured for the terminal interface.

The is no specific logout command to end a Web session. The Web session will be automatically logged off after a period of inactivity. The inactivity timeout value that is configured for the Telnet session is used by the Web interface.

See Using the Web Interface for starting and using the Web interface.