ProCurve Series 2300 and 2500 Switches Read Me

2
Additions to the Installation and Getting Started Guide
The following information pertains to the use of transceivers with your Series 2300 and 2500 switches.
Note
In the following text, any mention of negotiation of “flow control” assumes that flow control is Enabled
for the port, which allows the negotiation. In the default configuration, for the Series 2300 switches,
flow control is enabled; for the Series 2500 switches, flow control is disabled, but can be enabled
through the switch console or other configuration interface.
Default Configuration for Transceivers. The default configurations for the following high-speed
transceivers, which can be installed in your Series 2300 and 2500 switches, are as follows:
■ All transceivers, when installed in your Series 2300 and 2500 switches — the transceivers
operate only in full duplex mode; half-duplex mode is not available.
■ Gigabit-SX and Gigabit-LX transceivers — Auto. The speed and communication mode are set
at 1000 Mbps and full duplex, according to the standards, and the switch auto negotiates flow
control with the connected device.
■ 100-FX — 100/Full. The port runs at 100 Mbps, full duplex.
■ 100/1000-T — Auto. The communication mode is set at full duplex, the switch auto senses
the link speed, and auto negotiates the flow control and the port MDI/MDI-X operation.
Connecting the Transceivers to Devices with Fixed Configurations. For some older network
devices, including some older HP ProCurve devices, the default for the Gigabit-SX and -LX ports is
a fixed configuration, for example 1000 Mbps/Full Duplex, or is otherwise different from these default
configurations for the transceivers. As a result, those devices may not connect properly to your Series
2300 and 2500 switches; you will not get a link. Additionally, if you connect the 100/1000-T Transceiver,
in its default configuration, to another device that has any fixed (non-Auto) configuration, you will
not get a link.
In summary, this is how the transceivers behave if connected to a device with a fixed configuration:
■ 100-FX Transceiver — a good connection to a 100 Mbps/full duplex device; a link but very
poor performance if connecting to a 100 Mbps/half duplex device because of the resulting
duplex mismatch between your switch and the connected device.
■ Gigabit-SX and Gigabit-LX Transceivers — no link unless the transceiver configuration is
modified to match the fixed configuration of the connected device (configuration changes
possible on Series 2500 only); these devices operate only at full duplex according to the
standards.
■ 100/1000-T Transceiver — no link unless the transceiver configuration is modified to match
the fixed configuration of the connected device (configuration changes possible on Series
2500 only), or the connected device is another HP ProCurve switch configured to either the
Auto-100 or Auto-1000 options.
readme-v2.fm Page 2 Monday, November 13, 2000 1:52 PM