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Understanding the network.pdf - Back to Home

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Because <strong>the</strong> hub is effectively <strong>the</strong> backbone, <strong>the</strong>re is no backbone cabling<br />

specification. Instead, hubs can be linked <strong>to</strong>ge<strong>the</strong>r using a special crossover cable.<br />

The pinout is illustrated in Figure 4.13.<br />

NOTE<br />

Figure 4.13. E<strong>the</strong>rnet 10Base-T station-<strong>to</strong>-hub<br />

interconnect and hub-<strong>to</strong>-hub crossover cable.<br />

As an alternative <strong>to</strong> using a crossover cable, certain hub manufactures provide an<br />

MDI/MDI-X port. This port is wired with a switch that can change <strong>the</strong> pin signals so<br />

<strong>the</strong> port can behave as a crossover or straight-through port. This is a nice feature as<br />

it eliminates <strong>the</strong> need for <strong>the</strong> crossover cable. It is not available on multiport bridges<br />

(or switches), however, which follow <strong>the</strong> same device interconnection scheme.<br />

A 10Base-T hub-<strong>to</strong>-hub crossover link has <strong>the</strong> same maximum distance (100m) as<br />

a station-<strong>to</strong>-hub interconnection. In addition <strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong> maximum distance between<br />

hubs, no end-station can be separated by more than four hubs connected <strong>to</strong>ugher<br />

by five 10Base-T cable segments for a <strong>to</strong>tal cable distance of 500m. It is possible <strong>to</strong><br />

have more than one hub connected <strong>to</strong> an end-station (see Figure 4.14).

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