Dax’s Gigabit Ethernet Switches

It’s only recently that products associated with Gigabit Ethernet like switches and network cards have made an appearance in the market. Here, we look at three such products from

Dax.

Dax DX-5004 GS

This is a 4-port switch with each port capable of 10/100/1000 Mbps connectivity. These can take Cat5 UTP/STP cables. The switch has LED indicators for link status and speed, data TX/RX and mode of operation (full/half-duplex). The front panel also has a quick ‘Reset’ button.

The switch can be configured by connecting its RS-232 port to a serial port on a PC. An inbuilt power supply eliminates the need for a separate adaptor. The configuration is simple and a step-by-step procedure in the manual explains it all. The switch can be divided into four VLANs. Hence, data from the source port will only be forwarded to the destination port in the same

VLAN.

The switch also supports Queue Priority. Port-based priority can be assigned a value from 0 (lowest) to 7 (highest). The ports on the switch also have auto-negotiation to set the best possible bandwidth on a connection to another device on the network. The cable distance limitation for the switch is 100 meters.

Dax DX-5024 GS

This switch has 24 10/100 Mbps and 2 Gigabit ports. It has the same LED indicators as the DX-5004 GS switch. Power supply is again built-in, and there’s a ‘Reset’ button to bring the switch settings to factory defaults.

This switch is also managed through an RS-232 link on the rear panel and a Hyper Terminal session. The 10/100 ports have auto-negotiation capability and the speed can also be adjusted manually through the console. The Gigabit ports also support full duplex operation. Queues Priority can again be assigned like with the earlier switch.

This switch also has an uplink port which connects it to another workgroup switch or a router. Multiple VLANs can share the same uplink port.

Dax DX-2000T

This is a 32/64-bit 10/100/1000 Mbps Ethernet adapter. Complying with PCI 2.2 specifications, the card can fit into a 32 as well as 64-bit PCI slot. It has separate LEDs to indicate the link speed (10, 100, or 1000 Mbps). The adapter auto-negotiates the data connection speed for optimal data transfer rates. The card also has a 1024 bytes on-board data buffer for data. Supporting all major network OS, this Gigabit Ethernet card is a good choice for network servers that need high throughputs.

Ashish Sharma in Gurgaon