2. How to network the computers together with the switch?

Give each computer a static ip address in same range if just
connecting machines together.
With OS , the likes of server 2003, the server has fixed ip
and the clients obtain via DHCP their ip at the login to domain.

3. What are the differences between an Ethernet switch and a hub?

In a hub, a frame is passed along or "broadcast" to every
one of its ports. It doesn't matter that the frame is only
destined for one port. The hub has no way of distinguishing
which port a frame should be sent to. Passing it along to
every port ensures that it will reach its intended
destination. This places a lot of traffic on the network
and can lead to poor network response times.

Additionally, a 10/100Mbps hub must share its bandwidth
with each and every one of its ports. So when only one PC
is broadcasting, it will have access to the maximum
available bandwidth. If, however, multiple PCs are
broadcasting, then that bandwidth will need to be divided
between all of those systems, which will degrade
performance.

A switch, on the other hand, keeps a record of the MAC
addresses of all the devices connected to it. With this
information, a switch can identify which system is sitting
on which port. So when a frame is received, it knows
exactly which port to send it to, which significantly
increases network response times. And, unlike a Hub, a
10/100Mbps switch will allocate a full 10/100Mbps to each
of its ports. So regardless of the number of PCs
transmitting, users will always have access to the maximum
amount of bandwidth. It's for these reasons

4. What are the differences between broadband router and Ethernet switch?

A switch, keeps a record of the MAC addresses of all the
devices connected to it. With this information, a switch
can identify which system is sitting on which port. So when
a frame is received, it knows exactly which port to send it
to, which significantly increases network response times.
And, unlike a Hub, a 10/100Mbps switch will allocate a full
10/100Mbps to each of its ports. So regardless of the
number of PCs transmitting, users will always have access
to the maximum amount of bandwidth. It's for these reasons
why a switch is considered to be a much better choice then
a hub.

Routers are completely different creatures. Where a hub or
switch is concerned with transmitting frames, a router's
job, as its name implies, is to route packets to other
networks until that packet ultimately reaches its
destination. One of the key features of a packet is that it
not only contains data, but the destination address of
where it's going.

A router is typically connected to at least two networks,
commonly two LANs or WANs or a LAN and its ISP's network
(ex. your pc or workgroup and EarthLink). Routers are
located at gateways, the places where two or more networks
connect. Using headers and forwarding tables, routers
determine the best path for forwarding the packets. Routers
use protocols such as ICMP to communicate with each other
and configure the best route between any two hosts.

A router will typically include a 4-to-8 port Ethernet
switch (or hub) and a Network Address Translator (NAT). In
addition, they usually include a Dynamic Host Configuration
Protocol (DHCP) server, Domain Name Service (DNS) proxy
server and a hardware firewall to protect the Local Area
Network (LAN) from malicious intrusion from the Internet.

5. Does a switch have the ability to send IP addresses?

A switch takes the ip address and passes it through to the
other computer, whether that other computer has Dynamically
assigned it to its client or otherwise.

6. Will the switches work with both a PC/OS XP and a MAC/OS 9 if the uplink connection will be to a router?

Yes it will work.Its least bothered of pc/os it may be any
os.what it needs is MAC address of pcs.swithch is a
inteligent device which keeps ur pcs in one network to
communicate each other.

7. What is the IP address of the switch?

The switch can obtain its IP configuration automatically
using one of the following protocols:

?Bootstrap Protocol (BOOTP)

?Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP)

?Reverse Address Resolution Protocol (RARP)

The switch makes BOOTP, DHCP, and RARP requests only if the
sc0 interface IP address is set to 0.0.0.0 when the switch
boots up. This address is the default for a new switch or a
switch whose configuration file has been cleared using the
clear config all command. BOOTP, DHCP, and RARP requests
are only broadcast out the sc0 interface.

8. What is Auto-Negotiation function?

Auto-negotiation is a mechanism that takes control of the
cable when a connection is established to a network device.
Auto-negotiation detects the various modes that exist in
the device on the other end of the wire, and advertises it
own abilities to automatically configure the highest
performance mode of interoperation.
Auto-negotiation automatically switches to the correct
technology, such as 10BASE-T, 100BASE-TX, or a
corresponding Full Duplex mode. Once the highest
performance common mode is determined, Auto-negotiation
passes control of the cable to the appropriate technology
and becomes transparent until the connection is broken.

9. Does the EZ serial switch have a user configuration interface like a router?

No, the EZ serial switch does not have a user configuration
interface because there is no need for a user to configure
an EZ serial switch to have a LAN/WAN based connection.
All the changes should be applied under the Operating
System itself.

10. Is a cross-over cable needed to connect the EZ serial switch to another hub or some type of device?

Cross Cabling is used to connect to similar devices in a
network.Here Cross-over cable is used to connect EZ Serial
Switch to Same type of device which is similar and not to
hub.

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