Management Cable Requirements

Management of the switch is done at the management console, which is either a serial device attached to the SER MGT port of the CMC or a 10/100 Ethernet connection at the NET MGT port of the CMC.

Typically, the SER MGT connection to the serial device is only used for the initial startup and configuration of the switch. The serial device can be a serial terminal, a terminal server, or a serial connection running on a system or laptop. Because of the nature of the signal, a serial management cable cannot be reliably used if it is more than 10 m long.

You can use the NET MGT connection after the switch has been configured to do so with serial management connection. The advantage of the NET MGT connection is that administration of the switch can happen from anywhere on the network. There is no cable length constraint for the network management route because of the re-amplification, filtering, and processing that happens at each hub or switch within the Ethernet network. No network management cable should be more than 100 m long.

Serial device adapters enable you to use an Ethernet cable for serial management purposes.

Related Information

• Network Management Connector and Pins

• Serial Management Connector and Pins

• Attach Management Cables