Re: TOKEN RING WIRING

Jim,

The patch cables are straight through and are not 'neccesary' for that reason,  
however, you should always use patch cables.  The reason is that building wire 
is
not intended to be flexed repeatedly.  Eventually it will break and then require
re-termination (assuming you can figure out where).  Patch cables that fail (and
they do) simply get cut to little pieces  and scrapped. (to absolutely prevent
re-use and to vent at the thing that caused you problems!)

As to the MAU and it's little tester.  You must have non-powered passive (IBM
8228 type) MAUs.  The litle tester should NOT be used on a MAU on an active ring
as it will disrupt the LAN.  MAUs have relays for each port that change position
depending on if there is an active station on that lobe. The power to switch the
relay in a passive MAU comes from the token ring adaptor.  The reason for
resetting with the tool is that in shipment the relays get jostled about and may
not be fully closed.  The tester sequentially opens the relay, holds it for a 
few
seconds and then closes it again and verifies that it is closed (you can hear 
the
relays switching during testing and when a station inserts or leaves the ring) 
Once the ports on a MAU are reset it is generally not needed to do that again
unless the unit is moved.

Powered MAUs do not need port resetting because they perform this test upon
powerup.

HTH - Larry

jimconners@juno.com wrote:
> 
> Hi,
> In the wiring closet we have MAU's that are connected to the AS/400.
> There are patch cords that go to the MAU's and connect to a wiring panel
> that goes to the various pc's throughout the building.  Can a cable from
> the building be directly plugged in to a MAU or must patch cords be used
> to reverse sense(polarity)?
> Must new connections to the MAU be energized with a little tester, or is
> someone pulling my leg?
> Thanks,
> Jim

-- 
Larry Bolhuis         | What do You want to Reload today?
Arbor Solutions, Inc  |
(616) 451-2500        | 
(616) 451-2571 -fax   | Two rules to success in life:
lbolhui@ibm.net       | 1. Never tell people everything you know.
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