Router and Switch Hardwar

I do not have any hardware yet, but working on it for this coming week. Question before I get it.

If i connect a straight-through cable to a Server <to> Router, what will the light output be on the router? The 10/100 LNK light on the NIC in the server will Flash Green in this case if i remember correctly, or is that just on 3com NICs.

But what will happen to the LCD on the Cisco Rotuers and Switchs?

Thank you.

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Comments

bighornsheep

First of all...what does the colour of light even matter for anything important?

But anyway, it depends on the model of the router or switch...and whether you're connecting to the Console, an ethernet port, or a transceiver adapter.

I believe on the switches, it will be a green light. If you're using an AUI transceiver, it could be red, orange, or green depending on the brand name.

ps. it's an LED btw....light emitting diode, LCD is liquid crystal display...

cheers~

datchcha

bighornsheep wrote:

First of all...what does the colour of light even matter for anything important?

But anyway, it depends on the model of the router or switch...and whether you're connecting to the Console, an ethernet port, or a transceiver adapter.

I believe on the switches, it will be a green light. If you're using an AUI transceiver, it could be red, orange, or green depending on the brand name.

ps. it's an LED btw....light emitting diode, LCD is liquid crystal display...

cheers~

Thanks for the advise.

The color of the light doesn't mean anything. Amber LEDs are used for Activity usually, while Green is used for Link state. Amber can also be used for over-all status of the device.

What i was asking was the state of the LEDs depending on which type of cable was used. Would it blink to display reversed polarity, or would it just stay solid.

Thank you.

dtlokee

The answer really depends on the hardware.

On newer switches and network interface cards the use auto-MDIX so they will autosense the need to crossover the connection in which case you'll get an active link.

On Cisco switches you will typically get a green light if everything is ok, of an amber light if it's not (for example the interface is disabled due to spanning tree or an invalid VLAN configuration)