Introduction to CNM
CNM Oline Help

     ASUS provide a Centralized Network Management (CNM) software to allow users manage the switch in your network. The program is designed to work best with Microsoft Windows operation system.  This help illustrates the function provided by CNM.

Start CNM

Functional Layout

General Setting

Switch Topology

Switch Setup

System

Configuration

Statistics


Start CNM
Start CNM Program

1. Install CNM in a computer running Windows OS. Refer to CNM installation guide for detail installation steps.

2. The computer with CNM installed must be in the same network as the switches are.

3. Make sure the switches are power on and the network links are good.

4. Click the CNM icon on the PC's desktop. A CNM window comes out as Figure 1.1. This computer becomes the manage station to the switches.

5. After start up, your first job is applying a password to login. Then you get the rights to control the switch. The default password is 0x2379, if none change it.

Figure 1.1

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Functional Layout

     The CNM window consists of three separate frames. The top frame has switch logo and front panel as shown in Figure2.1. This frame remains on the top of the browser window all the times and updates the LED status periodically. Each port shows different states by different colors.

Green Blinking port ..... Ethernet link is established

Black ......................... No Ethernet link

Figure 2.1 Top frame

     The left frame, a topology frame as shown in Figure 2.2, contains all the NICs in the manage station. Each NIC has a tree view to show the switches that are discovered by CNM. You can click on any of these to display a specific configuration of the switch.

     Figure 2.2 A Topology Frame

     Click on the NIC, it shows the topology of the switches in the network. If multiple switches are cascaded, the tree view will show the relationship of those switches as Figure 2.3

     Figure 2.3 Tree view of the network topology

     The right frame displays the specified switch configurations or graphics for the statistics. That is, it displays different configuration layout for different model. You have to specify a switch by clicking one switch in the topology list.

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General Setting

     There are menu bar and tool bar on the top of the CNM window. They offer general settings for CNM. The Topology item provides the general network discovery, manually add or delete switches, and load or save the current discovered topology. The Setup item provides the update interval and password settings. The Help item provides CNM information and instructions

3.1 Topology

Figure 3.1. Topology

Topology is to control the actions of the topology frame. A couple of things you can do to the topology frame are listed as following:

1.	Discovery: discover all the 1024Ps in all the networks that your CNM station is connecting to. The discovery result will display in the topology frame. There is a corresponding function icon  in the tool bar.

2.	Update: detect if the communications between the CNM station and the discovered switches is good or not. The switch icon will show  to indicate that the communication is broken.

3.	Add Switch: add a switch to the topology tree manually. A window pops out for this purpose as Figure 3.2. Select the network adapter you want the switch to attach to, give the switch MAC and name, and an authentication key as the password if you don't use the default one(2379), then click OK to finish the action. However, a manually added switch does not mean it can be configured or discovered by CNM. The function provides a way to add a known switch to topology list once the CNM cannot discover the switch. There is a tool bar button for it..

                    Figure 3.2. Add Switch

4.	Remove Switch: you can remove any switch in the topology list manually through this function. It pops out a switch list and check those switches you want to remove. Please refer to Figure 3.3 for the switch list window.

Figure 3.3. Remove Switch

5.	Load: load a topology list from a file. There is a tool bar button for it.

6.	Save Topology: save the current topology list to a file. There is a tool bar button for it.

7.	Save As: specify a file name to save the topology list

8.	Exit: exit from CNM program

3.2 Setup

Figure 3.4. Setup

     CNM polls the switch status periodically, the polling interval can be adjusted.

1.	Auto Update Time Interval: as Figure 3.5, a proper value can be set. The auto update time interval is used to poll the switch statistics and link status on the top of the window. The interval value could be adjusted from 0 to 300 seconds. 0 means no polling at all. There is a tool bar button for it.

Figure 3.5. Auto Update Time Interval

3.3 Help

     Help shows you the CNM user guide and current version.

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Switch Topology

     The switch topology frame is on the left part of the CNM window. It shows the discovered switches and the relationship among them. Each   presents a NIC interface. The interface name and MAC address is shown after the [image] .

The switch topology shows the relationship among the switches in a tree view. That is, if a switch A has connections to switch B and your NIC, then a cascade tree will display as Figure 4.1.

 Figure 4.1. Switch Relationship

     In this way, you can find the relationship among the switch. It helps design and debug your network. Each [image] is a switch with name and MAC address followed. You can assign a name to the switch by click the right button on the mouse while the mouse is point to the switch MAC address.

Note	All the switch names are kept in CNM file, but not in the switches. So if you use CNM to manage the same switch on another management station, the name may be different because the switch does not keep its name.

4.1 Topology Discovery

     The topology discovery is done by user's request. That is, no auto update is executed for the topology change. This will reduce the network traffics since the discovery generates some packets to query the switches.

4.2 Switch Add and Removal

     Discovery action will create the topology tree by all the discovered switches. The default password will be used in the discovery process. Sometimes you may have a switch with another password that is different from the default one. In this case, the switch cannot be discovered by the default password. You need to add a switch to the topology manually.

Figure 4.2 shows the window to add a switch. The are a couple of columns to fill to add a switch successfully.

Figure 4.2. Add Switch

1.	Adapter: select the corresponding adapter to add a switch under it.

2.	Switch: check the box if you want the new switch to be added under a specified switch in the topology tree. The manually added switch will be moved to a right place to show the relationships in the topology after a successful discovery.

3.	MAC: the most important information is the MAC address. If the MAC is wrong, the new added switch can not be accessed by CNM.

4.	Name: a good name may remind you something about the switch. However, the switch name is good only in the same CNM file. So the name may not be unique when you use different CNM files to do discover.

     Once a switch is added to the topology tree, you can find it in the corresponding place. You have to left click the switch symbol to switch the current status/configuration window from other switch to this switch. If the communication is good, you can see the linking status window on the right frame of the CNM window, and the topology tree will display the switch symbol in a correct place to show the relationship. If CNM cannot discover the manually added switch, then a  [image] will attach to the switch to show it is not reachable to the CNM.

Figure 4.3 shows the window to remove switches, just check the box before the switch to select those you want to remove, click the remove icon to start the action. All the corresponding switches will be removed and the tree branch after the removed switches are moved up to under the adapter. A discovery action will update the topology tree for the current network. You may find the removed switches are back to the topology tree because they are discovered again.

Figure 4.3

Note	The removed switch may be added back to the topology tree because the discovery action finds the switch in the network. This is normal because the switch is still working.

4.3 Topology Load and Save

A topology can be saved for later reference. The CNM starts with a default topology file. After the discovery action, it shows the update network topology. You can save it in a good file name and load it when you need it.

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Switch Setup

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Switch Setup

     Before using the configuration windows, it is better to know following buttons or icons because they are used throughout the setup. The following table describes the function for each button or icon.

Table 5.1. Description of Commonly Used Buttons and Icons

Button/Icon	Function
	Apply to the selected switch
	Reload the current configuration from the selected switch and display it
	No action is taken and leave the window
	Select all the ports
	Select none of the switch ports

     Before starting any new configuration, it is always recommended to reload the current switch configuration. This will help you know what you are going to change and the communication between CNM and the switch is good.

There is a message bar on the bottom showing the adapter's MAC and the switch MAC your are working on. Check these information before applying any new configuration to prevent an improper settings.

Note	Check the message bar on the bottom to make sure you are working on the proper switch before any configuration set up.

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System

     There are reboot, link status and change password under the system menu.

6.1 Reboot

     1024P provides hardware and software reset as shown in figure 6.1. Hardware reset is to reset the system at a initial state like the process of power on hardware reset.

The software reset will rest the system to the initial state and start the port link negotiations, but the MAC table, VLAN table data, and current configuration will be kept.

Figure 6.1. Reboot

6.2 Link Status

     Link status table shows the port information including speed, duplex mode and flow control. Click on the [image]  button will get the update information. Figure 6.2 shows the status table.

Figure 6.2. Link Status

6.3 Change Password

     A valid password consists of 4 digits, from 0 to9, and a to f. The authenticator does not check upper case or lower case. For example, password "12ab" is treated as "12AB". Once the password gets changed, CNM will use the password to retrieve the information about the switch.

     If the password is forgotten, please refer to user manual 3.3.2 to reset the password in the switch. After it, you have to remove the switch from the topology and discover the switch again.

Figure 6.3 Change Password

     After changing the password, CNM pop up a dialog box and administrators have to make a decision to save topology or not. If not, administrators will have to do two jobs when CNM start up next time. First, manually add the switch according to section 4.4.2. Second, change password again and replace 0x2379 with correct one.

Figure 6.4 Remind

     Since password was modified, administrators have to login the switch. Or administrators aren't control the switch. The page is shown as Figure 6.5.

.

Figure 6.5 Login

     After change password successfully, the switch won't reply its basic information when it receive CNM's discovery command.

6.4 Load

     You can load configuration from the switch or the local file as shown in Figure 6.6. This action will update the current configuration in the CNM. If you want to keep the current configuration, please refer to user manual section 4.6.5.

Figure 6.6. Load

6.5 Save

     Save all the configurations to a local file for future reference. Once you create a configuration file in CNM, you can use it to apply to the other switches to save your time. It is also a backup file for configuration. It is recommended to have a good file name to identify that the configuration is for the certain switch(es).

Figure 6.7. Save Configuration

6.6 Apply and Save

     It applies all the current settings in CNM to the switch and save them in the switch permanently. It is recommended to back up the existed switch configurations before applying a new configuration to the switch.

Figure 6.8 Apply Configuration

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Configuration

     The Configuration menu provides the configuration for all the functions that the switch can supports, like physical interface, link aggregation, bandwidth control, traffic control, VLAN, IGMP snooping and QoS.

     To keep all the new configurations and save the bandwidth for communications, each configuration page will not retrieve information from switch until you click the  button. In some configuration pages, you can select the ports to reload the information from the switch.

Physical Interface

Link Aggregation

Bandwidth

Traffic Control

VLAN

IGMP Snooping

QoS Setup

7.1 Physical Interface

Figure 7.1. Physical Interface

     Figure7.1 shows the configuration for each port. Select the ports you want to configure or reload information from the switch by clicking on the check boxes in front of the ports, then click on [image]  to set the configuration for the ports, or click on [image] to retrieve configuration from the switch, or click on [image] to apply the new settings to the switch. Some settings you can do to the physical interface

1.	Enable or disable a port

2.	Speed and duplex mode. Select 1000 full-duplex on the Fast Ethernet ports(from 1 to 24) will set the ports to 100 full-duplex mode.

3.	Flow control.

     A software reset will be triggered after the configuration is apply. The purpose of software reset is to restart link negotiations.

7.2 Link Aggregation

Figure 7.2 Link Aggregation

     Link aggregation creates new virtual links with more bandwidth. For example, port 1 and 2 can work together as one link to another device. The new virtual link has 200Mbps bandwidth. The switch provides 8 groups of link aggregations shown on the top of figure7.2.

     Click on the [image]  button to retrieve the configuration from switch. The checked trunk group means this group has been activated. You can check the trunk group to enable new trunk or uncheck the trunk group to disable the trunks. Click on [image] to make them effective in the switch.

     The Trunking Status shows the ports work as trunk ports currently. A green light in the port means the port is working as trunk port properly, otherwise it shows no light.

7.3 Bandwidth

Figure 7.3. Bandwidth Configuration

     1024P provides TX/RX bandwidth control for each port. Please reload the configuration before you start to set up new configuration. The page is shown as figure 7.3.

     Select the ports you want to configure, then select proper bandwidth for TX/RX directions. Click on [image]  to apply to the switch.

7.4 Traffic Control

     Traffic control is to set the following items

1.	Broadcast storm filtering control: if enabled, each port start to drop broadcast packets after a continuous received broadcast packets count up to 64. It will be back to normal if no more broadcast packet is received in 800ms or any non-broadcast packet is received.

2.	IP multicast packet flow control: if enabled, the system will drop IP multicast packets under a congestion condition. Otherwise, the packet will be forwarded to non-congested ports.

3.	Broadcast packet flow control: if enable, the system will drop broadcast packets under a congestion condition. Otherwise, the broadcast packet will be forwarded to non-congested ports.

     Again, please reload the settings from the switch before starting to do new configurations.

7.5 VLAN Setup

     A VLAN is simply a configured broadcast domain. An administrator applies VLAN to separate a network. VLAN Setup provides administers abilities to set up port-based and tag-based Vlan. The page is shown as figure 7.4.

An administrator could refer the following to add a VLAN

1.	Choose VLAN type, port-based or tag-based VLAN.

2.	Assign VLAN id, if you choose tag-based VLAN.

3.	Click [image] or [image] to assign port members.

4.	Click  to add a Vlan, and then Vlan Table will show it.

5.	Repeat step 1 through 4, if need to create another Vlan.

6.	Click  and then Vlan configuration will take effect.

Figure 7.4. VLAN

     All VLAN behavior will be influenced by VLAN control option  [image] . Click it and a window will pop out as Figure 7.5. Enable or disable these options carefully, these options are global setting for VLAN

Figure 7.5. VLAN Control Options

1.	VLAN function: enable or disable the VLAN function.

2.	Unicast packet inter-VLAN leaky: to enable the packet to be forwarded to a destination port(L2 table hit) at different VLAN.

3.	ARP braodcast pakcet inter-VLAN leaky: to enable ARP frame to broadcast to all switch ports.

4.	IP multicast packet inter-VLAN leaky: to enable IP multicast packet to be flooded to all the multicast address group member set ignore the VLAN member set domain limitation.

5.	802.1Q VLAN tag aware: to enable tag-based VLAN function.

6.	Ingress rule for acceptable frame types: to admit all frames or to admin only VLAN-tagged frames.

7.	Ingress rule for ingress filtering: to enable filter the frame received from a port which port is not included in the classified VLAN group member.

7.6 IGMP Snooping

     Enable the IGMP snooping will let the switch learn the multicast router port and group address member ports into the multicast address table. The table is combined with L2 MAC table, so the maximum entry is 8K. The valid port member will auto aging out after about 5 minute idle. Figure 7.6 shows the page.

Figure 7.6. IGMP Snoop

7.7 QoS Setup

     The system support 2 level priority queues. The queue service rate is based on the packet-based Weighted Round Robin algorithm. The ratio can be set as 4:1, 8:1, 16:1, or strictly high priority first.

The port-based priority is to decide the packet priority by the receiving ports. You can select the high priority ports from the switch graphic.

If TOS/DSCP based priority is enabled, it will be assigned to high priority queue if the field value is:

expected forwarding: 0b101110;

assured forwarding: 0b001010, 0b010010, 0b011010, 0b100010

network control: 0b11x000

     If 802.1p based priority is enabled, the packet forward priority is decided by the CoS value. The high priority packets have the CoS value from 4 to 7.

In some situations, you may want the high priority packets to get forwarded even the 802.3x flow control stop transmitting packets. In this case, enable Adapted Flow Control will turn off 802.3x flow control for a short time to let the high priority packets get forwarded. The 802.3x is re-enable when no high priority frames are received for 1 to 2 seconds.

     The Quality of Service page is shown as figure 7.7

Figure 7.7. QoS Setup

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Statistics

     Statistics offer Port Traffic, Traffic History and Comparison charts. The switch has 3 counters for 8 kinds of statistics. So you cannot see all the statistics at the same time. That is, the old statistics data will be gone if you start to use the counter for another statistics.

8.1 Port Traffic

     Select port number, the statistics item and color to draw the traffic chart. The chart will be auto updated in the time interval you set in Setup menu. Refer to user manual 4.3.2 for time interval setup.

Press the [image] button to start drawing.

Figure 8.1. Port Traffic

8.2 Traffic History

     Select the statistics item, ports and colors you want to see in the chart, then press the   button to start the drawing. The chart will be auto updated in the time interval you set in Setup menu. Refer to user manual 4.3.2 for time interval setup.

Figure 8.2. Traffic History

8.3 Comparison

     Select the statistics item to do comparison for port 1 to 26. Press the  button to start the drawing. The chart will be auto updated in the time interval you set in Setup menu. Refer to user manual 4.3.2 for time interval setup.

Figure 8.3. Port Comparison

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