Generally, cables can transmit information along their length. To actually get the information where it needs to go, you need to make the right connections to an RJ45 connector. Your cable run needs to terminate into a connector, which needs a jack to plug into. RJ45 is a standard type of physical connector for network cables, which is especially used for Ethernet networking. Recently, RJ45 connectors are commonly seen with Ethernet cables, and the Ethernet cables with RJ45 connectors are also called RJ45 cables. Today, we will explore the RJ45 connector.
RJ45 Connector
RJ45 connector is the most common twisted-pair connector for Ethernet cables and networks. "RJ" means "registered jack", which is a standardized telecommunication network interface for connecting voice and data equipment to a service provided by a local exchange carrier or long distance carrier. The physical connectors that registered jacks use are mainly the modular connector and 50-pin miniature ribbon connector types. RJ45 connector is an 8-position, 8-contact (8P8C) modular plug and jack, which is commonly used to connect computers onto Ethernet-based local area networks (LAN). RJ45 cable plug is usually made of a plastic piece with eight pins on the port. Four of the pins are used for sending and receiving data, and the other four are used for other technologies or power networking devices.
Two Wiring Schemes of RJ45 Connector: T568A and T568B
As we all know, there are two wiring schemes: T568A and T568B, which are used to terminate the twisted-pair cable onto the connector interface. Two standards define how the RJ45 pinouts to arrange the individual eight wires when linking RJ45 connector to a cable. These wiring layouts have their own color convention, and following the convention is important to ensure electrical compatibility. The differences of T568A and T568B in color conventions are shown in the figure below.
With regard to the two standards, there are two different connectivity forms. The T-568B wiring scheme is by far the most common, though many devices support the T-568A wiring scheme as well. If both ends of the patch cords are wired on the basis of one standard, it is a straight through connection. Both the standards can be used for straight through cable. If not, it is a crossover connection. Some networking applications require a crossover Ethernet cable, which has a T-568A connector on one end and a T-568B connector on the other. This type of cable is typically used for direct computer-to-computer connections when there is no router, hub, or switch available.
RJ45 VS. RJ11
Several other types of connectors closely resemble RJ45, the RJ11 connector used with telephone cables is one of such connectors. The close physical similarity of RJ45 and RJ11 makes it difficult for an untrained eye to tell the two apart. RJ11 connector is a 6P2C (6 position 2 contact) modular connector - only uses six positions rather than eight positions, which make them less popular than RJ45 connectors.
RJ45 and RJ11 are two commonly used jacks, each with their own specific purpose. The biggest difference between them is that they are used for different applications. RJ45 is used in networking, where you connect computers or other network elements to each other. RJ11 is the cable connector that is being used in telephone sets. Aside from the application, another difference is the number of wires in their connectors. If you look closely at both connectors, you would see that there are only four wires inside an RJ11 while there are eight wires inside an RJ45. As a consequence, RJ45 connector is a little bit bigger than RJ11. It is then quite easy to deduce that you cannot plug in an RJ45 connector to a RJ11 slot but the opposite is possible. Although the smaller size of RJ11 makes it easier to be plugged into the RJ45 slot, it is not recommended to do so since this may damage the device that adopts the RJ45 slot. With proper knowledge and training, some people have been able to use RJ45s all over their house instead of RJ11s. At present, RJ45 jacks are usually placed on the wall outlets inside people's houses to reduce the number of visible wiring when using VoIP handsets that are rapidly gaining popularity.
Main differences:
- RJ45 is used with Ethernet cables in computer networking while RJ11 is used in connecting telephone units.
- RJ45 contains more wires than RJ11.
- RJ45 is physically bigger than RJ11 to accommodate the extra wires.
Conclusion
RJ45 connectors are the key part of Ethernet connectivity to transmit voice and data media. They were developed as much smaller and cheaper replacements to the older telephone installation methods of hardwired cords. The easy plug-n-play style reduces the difficulty of installation. Compared with RJ11, RJ45 is suitable for more applications, such as Ethernet networking, telecommunications, factory automation and so on. And the RJ45 Ethernet cables are frequently used for networking devices, such as Cat5, Cat5e, Cat6, Cat7, etc.
As the corporate data center network undergoes transformation with technologies, the focal point of change is currently centered in the user-facing campus network. The campus network architecture is evolving in response to a combination of new business requirements, technology changes and a growing set of end user expectations. Consequently, campus LAN switches become a critical role in the networking, providing end-to-end connectivity within the organization. So this article will introduce the basics of campus network and considerations for choosing campus LAN switches.
Campus network is also known as campus area network or corporate area network (CAN), which is made up of an interconnection of local area networks (LANs) within a limited geographical area. Normally, campus networks are interconnected with high speed Ethernet links by means of optical fiber media, taking advantage of Gigabit Ethernet or 10-Gigabit Ethernet technology. Therefore, it is the important portion of the enterprise network infrastructure that provides access to network communication services and resources to end users and devices.
Designing a network can be a challenging task. To design reliable and scalable networks, network designers must consider the overall integration of the network. Early networks were essentially large flat networks that enabled peer-to-peer communication at layer 2 using Media Access Control (MAC) addressing and protocols. Over the years, this basic layered architecture has been further codified into a commonly deployed three-tier network design.
A typical hierarchical campus network design includes the following three layers:
Core layer: The individual building blocks are interconnected using a core layer, so the core serves as the backbone for the network. The core needs to be fast and extremely resilient, because every building block depends on it for connectivity.
Distribution layer: The distribution layer aggregates nodes from the access layer, protecting the core from high-density peering. Additionally, the distribution layer provides policy-based connectivity and boundary control between the access and core layers. Load balancing, Quality of Service (QoS) and ease of provisioning are key considerations for the distribution layer.
Access layer: The access layer is the first point of access to the network for edge devices, end stations and IP phones. The switches in the access layer are connected to two separate distribution layer switches for redundancy.
Choosing the right campus LAN switch for your organization isn't a simple matter, not just considering whether your network would benefit from access, distribution and core switches. There are a lot of features and capabilities about switches you should consider.
Port speeds and interface connections
First, you should understand what port speeds your network requires and what port connection types would be most useful and cost-effective. Now, most modern campus LAN switches support a wide variety of port speeds, including 1GbE, 10 GbE, 40 GbE and 100 GbE Ethernet. Most end devices use standard Gigabit Ethernet connections, while servers and uplink ports may require much faster port speeds and multiple ports for redundancy. In terms of interface connections, the most common options are copper, fiber and direct attach copper. It depends on the required port speed and what type of cabling is already installed in a building or throughout a campus.
PoE
Up till now, many devices that connect to access switches can be powered using a Power over Ethernet interface. It is widely used because PoE uses the same copper cabling to provide both network connectivity and the necessary power. But there are several different PoE standards and each standard provides a different maximum per-port watt output. Therefore, it's important to know how much power your end devices actually require.
Performance
Switching performance also depends heavily on whether the switch will be operating at Layer 2, Layer 3 or both. And if the switch will be performing Layer 3 functions, it must be able to support the routing protocol that will be used. Almost all enterprise-grade multilayer switches can operate using static routes or open dynamic routing protocols. But if you need to run more advanced routing protocols, you must ensure the switch you choose can run the necessary routing protocols.
Redundancy
Typical campus LAN network designs call for a certain amount of built-in redundancy to maintain connectivity to the majority of users when a link or switch goes down. In fact, there are a number of ways to provide redundancy using both hardware and software. This includes redundant switches, uplinks and redundancy protocols running at Layer 2 or Layer 3. It's important to understand what redundancy techniques you want to use, and verify that all of the necessary switches can perform the required redundancy tasks.
From what we have discussed, there are many considerations for choosing campus LAN switches. Except for understanding which type of switch is needed: access switches, distribution switches or core switches. It's imperative to determine network requirements, such as port speeds, port connection types, performance and redundancy etc.
A network switch is a small hardware device that centralizes communications among multiple connected devices within one local area network (LAN). Network switches come in different sizes, features and functions, so choosing a switch to match a particular network sometimes constitutes a daunting task. This blog will give you a few useful things to consider when choosing the appropriate switch for a layer in a particular network.
While switching capabilities exist for several kinds of networks, including Ethernet, Fibre Channel, RapidIO, ATM, ITU-T G.hn and 802.11, network switch can operate at one or more layers of the OSI model. Switches provide multiple advantages in network designs. All switches provide the basic traffic filtering functions, which improves network bandwidth. Besides, the internal switching circuits allow traffic flows to simultaneously occur between multiple ports. Currently, mainstream network switches support Gigabit Ethernet speeds per switch port, but high-performance switches in data centers generally support 10 Gbps per link. Different models of network switches support varying numbers of connected devices. Home network switches provide 4/8 connection for Ethernet devices, while SMB switches typically support between 32 and 128 connections.
Careful planning before purchasing a switch will save you money. At the same time, it can help you ensure the equipment has the functionality that you organization is needed, or the switches can expand their capabilities as your requirements change and grow. Here are some suggestions you can use to help guide your switch purchase.
Connection requirements are a good place to start, since they usually dictate what types of switches will be needed, and they can affect pricing dramatically. Here are something you need to consider in advance:
1. Consider the number of users that your network will have to support
2. Consider your basic network infrastructure
3. Determine the network needs of the users (Fast Ethernet or Gigabit Ethernet)
4. Choose the role of the switch (core switch, distribution switch, access switch)
5. Pick a vendor and/or company (for example: Cisco, Juniper, HP, Dell, Arista, Brocade, FS.COM)
The number of users and the basic network infrastructure determine the number of ports. Common numbers of ports on network switches are 5, 8, 10, 24, and 48 ports. If you only have 5 or 6 users, then a small 8 port switch will probably be enough for your needs. Number of ports is one of the biggest factors in the cost of a switch, so if you buy a switch that only supports the number of users that you will have, you will likely save a fair amount of money.
Fixed switches come in Fast Ethernet and Gigabit Ethernet. Fast Ethernet allows up to 100 Mb/s of traffic per switch port while Gigabit Ethernet allows up to 1000 Mb/s of traffic per switch port. These ports may be a combination of SFP/SFP+ slots for fiber connectivity, but more commonly they are copper ports with RJ-45 connectors on the front, allowing for distances up to 100 meters. With Fiber SFP modules, you can go distances up to 40 kilometers. Currently, Gigabit Ethernet is the most popular interface speed though Fast Ethernet is still widely used, especially in price-sensitive environments.
If you have a 24-port switch, with all its ports capable of running at gigabit speeds, you could generate up to 24 Gb/s of network traffic. If the switch is connected to the rest of the network by a single network cable, it can only forward 1 Gb/s of the data to the rest of that network. Due to the contention for bandwidth, the data would forward more slowly. That results in 1 out of 24 wire speed available to each of the 24 devices connected to the switch. Therefore, the more ports you have on a switch to support bandwidth aggregation, the more speed you have on your network traffic.
Core Layer Switches: These types of switches are routed at the core layer of a topology, which is the high-speed backbone of the network and requires switches that can handle very high forwarding rates. The switch that operates in this area also needs to support link aggregation to ensure adequate bandwidth coming into the core from the distribution layer switches. Because of the high workload carried by core layer switches, they tend to operate hotter than access or distribution layer switches. Virtually, core layer switches have the ability to swap cooling fans without having to turn the switch off.
Distribution Layer Switches: Distribution layer switches plays a very important role on the network. They collect the data from all the access layer switches and forward it to the core layer switches. Distribution layer switches provides advanced security policies that can be applied to network traffic using Access Control Lists (ACL). This type of security allows the switch to prevent certain types of traffic and permit others.
Access Layer Switches: Access layer switches facilitate the connection of end node devices to the network. For this reason, they need to support features such as port security, VLANs, Fast Ethernet/Gigabit Ethernet, Power over Internet, and link aggregation. Port security allows the switch to decide how many or what type of devices are permitted to connect to the switch.
At any layer, a modern switch may implement power over Ethernet (PoE), which avoids the need for attached devices, such as a VoIP phone or wireless access point, to have a separate power supply. Since switches can have redundant power circuits connected to uninterruptible power supplies, the connected device can continue operating even when regular office power fails. Another characteristic you consider when choosing a switch is PoE. This is the ability of the switch to deliver power to a device over the existing Ethernet cabling. To find the switch that is right for you, all you need to do is choose a switch according to your power needs. When connecting to desktops which do not require PoE switches, the non-PoE switches are a more cost-effective option.
As the network grows, you will need more switches to provide network connectivity to the growing number of devices in the network. When using standalone switches, each switch is managed, troubleshot, and configured as an individual entity. In contrast, stackable switches provide a way to simplify and increase the availability of the network. With a true stackable switch, you can connect the stack members in a ring. If a port or cable fails, the stack will automatically route around that failure, many times at microsecond speeds. You can also add or subtract stack members and have it automatically recognized and added into the stack.
As you can see, there is a multitude of switch options to choose from. So, have a close look at your current deployment and future needs to determine the right switch for your network.
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