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Thread: Switches and Operating Systems

  1. August 21st, 2003, 03:04 PM #1
    wassup
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    Switches and Operating Systems

    I was looking at a pdf for a LinkySys 8 port switch. It said it supported a bunch of doze OSes. but shouldnt a switch support any OS that has ethernet capabilities?
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  2. August 21st, 2003, 03:11 PM #2
    gunit0072003
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    yes, it should..
    Switches operate on layer 2 of the OSI model..
    All a switch does is forward frames
    based dst MAC addresses.. everything else is
    encapsualted inthe data field...
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  3. August 21st, 2003, 03:26 PM #3
    steve.milner
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    Re: Switches and Operating Systems

    Originally posted here by wassup
    I was looking at a pdf for a LinkySys 8 port switch. It said it supported a bunch of doze OSes. but shouldnt a switch support any OS that has ethernet capabilities?
    Beware the markelect for madness can it cause

    It's just some drivel that a product marketroid came up with to fill some space in the manual!
    IT, e-commerce, Retail, Programme & Project Management, EPoS, Supply Chain and Logistic Services. Yorkshire. http://www.bigi.uk.com
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  4. August 21st, 2003, 03:58 PM #4
    wassup
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    Originally posted here by gunit0072003
    yes, it should..
    Switches operate on layer 2 of the OSI model..
    All a switch does is forward frames
    based dst MAC addresses.. everything else is
    encapsualted inthe data field...
    yeah thats what i was thinking. a switch doesnt give whats above the layers in the OSI model.
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  5. August 21st, 2003, 04:05 PM #5
    slarty
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    It's probably referring to the Windows GUI management program which comes on the disc with the switch.

    That won't run on other OS, but it doesn't prevent you connecting non-Windows devices to the switch. All you need is 1 windows box somewhere.
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  6. August 21st, 2003, 04:12 PM #6
    r8devil
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    yeah...slarty's right...switches definitely work with any OS but the GUI could be designed to work only on certain OSes. all u need would be one system that is on the approved OS list to do the configuration.
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  7. August 21st, 2003, 04:17 PM #7
    gunit0072003
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    I agree with slarty as well...It is the GUi management software
    they are referring to and not the capability of the switch...

    good point slarty...Iam used to configuring
    switches through CLI/thru console port...
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  8. August 21st, 2003, 04:30 PM #8
    souleman
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    The software that comes with the switch is normally windows only. But unless linksys has made some major changes, they all have a web interface also. All you have to know is the ip address of the switch and then connect to it (ie http://192.168.1.1) and you will have access to it anyway. But sometimes the web interface (not sure if linksys does this or not) has code that will only work with specific browsers. In other words, you couldn't use the old lynx browser to configure your switch.

    And yes, any machine that has a standard ethernet card can work with the switch. A switch is smart enough to figure out what speed a card runs at, and slow down if it has too.
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  9. August 22nd, 2003, 11:15 AM #9
    wassup
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    umm but why would i need to configure a switch? this isnt a router, its just a full duplex hub. and arent switches/hubs transparent over networks? (i.e. they dont have ip adresses).
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  10. August 22nd, 2003, 04:33 PM #10
    souleman
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    does the switch have uplink ports? can you turn on/off an echo port? do you want the ability to monitor the switch? Now a linksys switch probably doesn't have that many options, but if you were looking at a Cisco or 3com switch, its a lot more.

    A hub and a switch are NOT the same thing. A hub is just a multiport repeater. A switch actually looks at the mac address of the frames and sends them where they belong.
    \"Ignorance is bliss....
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