Fanout Switch + Uplink port

nishnash · 2018-03-01T19:00:49.000Z

Hi,

-Can somebody explain what a fanout switch is and what functions it performs?

-Also, what is an uplink port?

larrydigioia1598 · 2018-03-01T19:11:46.000Z

I think this is hardly “official” terminology, but I will take a stab -

“Uplink” is the easy one, that just means whatever port on a switch that you are using to supply it connectivity from your resources. Uplink ports are often run at higher speed than the rest.

A fan out switch is kind of the opposite - it is more of a “where” than a “what.” You are taking a port on a switch and using it to supply another switch.

Keep in mind all this terminology does not only apply to networks, it is used in other technologies as well.

nishnash · 2018-03-03T14:23:36.000Z

@chmod0777

thanks so much for your comments/explanation. I’m relatively new to the networking world and really appreciate your comments/help…

Re: Uplink

-So generally uplink ports would be used to connect to the WAN or another switch/router that supplies resources? By resrouces, do you mean it being connected to a server or power supply? And i guess downlink ports would be access ports to end devices?

Re: Fanout Switch

-Still having trouble wrapping my head on this one. So would a fanout switch generally be used in a switch stack. Or is it that Switch 1 would connect to all the resources and then connect to Switch 2 to supply connectivity/resources to the endpoints?

Sorry for the newb questions - trying to read through cisco docs and cbt nuggets but cannot comprehend these concepts…

larrydigioia1598 · 2018-03-04T18:22:41.000Z

Uplink would be used to connect to another switch or possibly a a firewall, or both maybe, it is just that it is seeing traffic FROM whatever resources you have. Servers/Internet/etc.

A port on the same switch that is used to link to another switch (personally I would never actually say “fan out.” That terminology probably comes from what it looks like on a diagram) would be doing basically what an outlet strip does for AC - “feeding” or “chaining” another lower-level switch to get data TO more devices.

A stack is simply connecting multiple switches to act and be managed as one, which also gets you more ports available. Where this gets tricky is when you consider the 100 meter distance limitation of CAT6 or any other ethernet cabling, as you try to provide ethernet greater distances from the server room.

mark6030 · 2018-03-04T21:07:38.000Z

Over a decade in networking, been through lots of Cisco literature, sat in lots of Cisco classes and never heard the tern “fan-out” before…

nishnash · 2018-03-08T11:34:31.000Z

@chmod0777 thanks for the reply and clarification - found it way more helpful then the cisco docs out there…