MAGBES Frequently Asked Questions
Manuals, Data Sheets, and Press Releases can be found in the
MPL Documentation area of this homepage.
| Question #357: | What is the MTBF of this product? |
| Answer: | Please note that the whole story of MTBF (and especially MTBF numbers) is a lot more complicated than it may look at first sight. Please check No MTBF for more information.
If you are still convinced that MTBF is what you are looking for, please see below: |
| Question #400: | Does the MAGBES support "Link Aggregation Control Protocol" (LACP)? |
| Answer: | LACP is supported on the MAGBES-2x with firmware 0.5.3 or higher. On all other hardware and/or firmware versions, LACP is and will not be supported for various reasons. |
| Question #373: | I try to use a third-party SFP with your MAGEBS / TX2FX but it does not work. If I insert the SFP into a media-converter / switch of a different brand, it works without a problem. Is the MAGEBS / TX2FX broken? |
| Answer: | Not necessarily. According to the standard "SFP Multi Source Agreement" (SFP MSA), all SFP modules contain a small memory device, where the capabilities supported by a particular SFP are being stored. Problems of the above mentioned kind are mostly caused by incorrect or even missing capability information. Because the MAGEBS / TX2FX is able to "translate" between different link speeds and media types, it is absolutely vital that the SFP module reports accurate capability information. Otherwise the MAGEBS / TX2FX is unable to set up its internal hardware correctly. For media-converters supporting only one link speed and / or media type, reading and interpreting the SFP information may not be necesarry at all, which may explain why the SFP works in conjunction with theses devices. Therefore please recheck with a SFP module from another manufacturer. If this is not an option, please contact the SFP manufacturer and make sure that the SFP meets the MSA specification and is Ethernet compatible. SFP modules which only support "Fibre Channel" or "SONET" are NOT supported by the MAGEBS / TX2FX! |
| Question #352: | Can the MAGBES / MAXBES be used to replace a full-featured network router? |
| Answer: | Most probably not because the MAGBES / MAXBES is a OSI layer 2 network switch as described here: Wikipedia Network Switch. |
| Question #346: | Which SFP modules are being supported by the MAGBES / TX2FX? |
| Answer: | As SFP modules should be designed according to the manufacture independent standard "SFP Multi Source Agreement" (SFP MSA), every SFP module should work with the MAGBES / TX2FX. (Please note that there may be MAGBES / TX2FX specific limitations (e.g. "Fibre Channel" or "SONET" are NOT supported), so check the corresponding user manual for details.) Unfortunately there seems to be some SFP modules available on the market, which do not to work reliable in conjunction with the MAGBES / TX2FX for various reasons. |
| Question #407: | Can I use my Cisco and/or HP branded SFP modules with your products? |
| Answer: | Some big network companies, such as Cisco or HP, sell SFP modules which will work only with their own network equipment. They use special contents in the EEPROM of the SFP to identify their own modules. Since the contents of the EEPROM is a part of the "SFP Multi Source Agreement" (SFP MSA), these SFP's are not MSA compatible and therefore are not supported by the MPL product. But this does not necessarily mean that the MPL products will not work together with third-party products on the other end of the network link. If you find and use a MSA compliant SFP with the same wavelength and other optical parameters as the unsupported SFP, then the odds are good that a network connection between the MPL product and the third-party network device can be established. |
| Question #392: | If we use your MAGBES / TX2FX in conjunction with other, non-MPL network products, we are facing more or less severe compatibility problems. All is fine if we don't use your product. Is there a fix or work-around to make your product work as expected? |
| Answer: | Most probably there is NO fix or work-around! As a general rule of thumb, please make sure that the SFPs used and/or your other non-MPL products are ethernet compliant. Also check the other "compatibility" related FAQs in this section. |
| Question #374: | Has the TX2FX / MAGES any kind of built-in buffer for ethernet frames and if yes, how big is it? |
| Answer: | Yes, the switch controller used on the TX2FX / MAGBES has a FIFO buffer to temporarily store ethernet frames and its size is 1Mbit. |
| Question #347: | Which SFP module speeds are being supported by the MAGBES/TX2FX? |
| Answer: | The following SFP module speeds are supported:
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| Question #383: | I try to use your MAGBES with a SFP module from a big networking equipment producing company, but it does not work. Is there a MAGBES configuration option that I can change to make it work? |
| Answer: | Please note that some companies are selling SFP modules which are specially designed to be usable only with their own network products. While these modules may normally be compatible with the MAGBES from a mechanical point of view, they are NOT compatible from the "software" point of view. Please make sure to use a SFP module which fully meets the MSA standard and is Ethernet compatible as described in the FAQs referenced below: |
| Question #362: | What is the (minimal) latency of the data going through the MAGBES from one port to the other? |
| Answer: | Since the MAGBES incorporates a switch controller (based on a "store-and-forward" design), the latency depends on the actual speed, duplex mode and handshake status of the connected media. Therefore in the best case (both ports working in full duplex, no pause frame received) the latency is at least one frame(-time). |
| Question #335: | Can multiple MAGBES modules be stacked together to form a larger switch? |
| Answer: | The stacking feature of the MAGBES connects only the power supply lines, no "inter switch communication" is established. In other words: You can stack as many MAGBES as you like, but they still operate as individual, single switches. |
| Question #334: | Does the MAGBES support "Jumbo Frames"? |
| Answer: | It depends on the precise MAGBES version:
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| Question #333: | Does the MAGBES support redundant ethernet connections? |
| Answer: | As written in the User Manual, the MAGBES supports Spanning Tree Protocol (IEEE 802.1D 2004) which allows the use of redundant ethernet connections. |
