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The contents of this manual are the property of GE Multilin Inc. This documentation is furnished on license and may not be reproduced in whole or in part without the permission of GE Multilin. The content of this manual is for informational use only and is subject to change without notice.
Digital Energy Multilin Multilink Ethernet Communications Switch QuickStart Guide QuickStart Guide 1 Preparation 1.1 Precautions Before installing the equipment, it is necessary to take the following precautions if the equipment is mounted in an enclosed or multiple rack assembly: Ensure the environmental temperature is less than or equal to 50°C. Please ensure 1U (1.75") gap is provided above each switch in the enclosure for heat dissipation.
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QUICKSTART GUIDE they have rubber feet they can also be installed on a shelf or table top unit. The compact size allows the Unit to be easily placed in an office or lab area, and it can also be either shelf of wall-mounted.
QUICKSTART GUIDE 2 Mechanical Installation 2.1 Table-top or Shelf Mounting The Unit can be mounted on a table-top or any suitable horizontal surface. It has four rubber feet to provide stability without scratching finished surfaces. 2.2 Rack Mounting - ML2400 Installation of a MultiLink Ethernet Switch in a 19-inch rack is a simple procedure.
DIN-rail brackets to mount it securely in a metal factory floor enclosure, maintained vertically for proper convection cooling of the unit. The Unit requires two DIN- rail mounting clips or latches for secure mounting – contact GE Multilin for ordering information.
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QUICKSTART GUIDE 754709A1.CDR FIGURE 4: DIN-rail latch (detail) To install the Unit with the DIN-rail brackets and latches, hold the unit in the vertical position with the bottom out and with the top toward the DIN-rail. Position the latches over the top of the DIN-rail, then snap the latches into holding position by moving the bottom of the switch inwards to a vertical position.
QUICKSTART GUIDE The DIN-Rail mounting brackets and latches are optional and need to be ordered as separate items. 2.3.1 Mounting Dimensions with Metal Brackets Each MultiLink Unit is supplied with metal mounting brackets and screws to mount the unit securely. It is recommended to mount the Unit vertically for proper cooling and long-life reliability.
QUICKSTART GUIDE 2.4 DIN-Rail / Panel Mounting - ML1200/ML800 The Multilink ML1200/ML800 is designed for use in a “factory floor” industrial environment. It is available with optional DIN-Rail brackets to mount it securely in a metal factory floor enclosure, maintained vertically for proper convection cooling of the unit. The Unit requires one DIN-Rail mounting clip or latch for secure mounting.
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QUICKSTART GUIDE The Unit is mounted using the brackets as shown in the illustration above. The spacing for the mounting screws into the supporting wall or panel is a rectangle 21.74 x 11.91 cm (8.56 x 4.69 inches) center-to-center. MULTILINK ETHERNET COMMUNICATIONS SWITCH – QUICKSTART GUIDE...
QUICKSTART GUIDE 3 Electrical Installation 3.1 Powering the Unit - ML2400 Units with the AC power supply option can be connected directly to 110/240 V AC with the supplied power cord. The standard high voltage (120/125 V AC/DC) or low-voltage (48 V DC) terminal block on the Unit is located on the rear of the unit and is equipped with three (3) screw-down lead posts.
QUICKSTART GUIDE 3.2 Powering the Unit - ML1600 Units with the AC power supply option can be connected directly to 110/240 V AC with the supplied power cord. The terminal block for the HI and LO option on the Unit is located on the left front of the unit and is equipped with three (3) screw-down lead posts.
QUICKSTART GUIDE See the Appendices of the reference manual for more details. Use an RFQ for other variations. 3.4 UL Requirements for DC-Powered Units Minimum 18 AWG cable for connection to a centralized DC power source. Minimum 14 AWG cable for connection to a earthing wiring. Use only with listed 10 A circuit breaker provided in building installation.
QUICKSTART GUIDE 3.6 Dielectric Strength (hi-pot) Testing The shorting link between the and safety ground must be removed prior to the dielectric strength test to protect the transient suppression circuitry of the power supply. For specific product details please refer to the appropriate product Reference Manual. The figure below is a typical example of the set-up.
QUICKSTART GUIDE 4 Connecting a Management Console Terminal to the Unit 4.1 Description Use a DB-9 to DB-9 null-modem cable (ML2400/ML1600) or RJ45 to DB-9 null-modem cable (ML1200/ML800) to connect the Unit console port to the a PC. Console cables may be purchased as a separate items. They are not included with the Note Unit.
QUICKSTART GUIDE 4.1.2 ML1200/ML800 Table 2: Pinout information for above connector Name Description Direction Request to Send Transceiver Data Ground Ground Receive Data Clear to Send MULTILINK ETHERNET COMMUNICATIONS SWITCH – QUICKSTART GUIDE...
QUICKSTART GUIDE 5 Introduction to Twisted Pair and Fiber Optic Ethernet LANs This section will provide a brief review of modern Ethernet media before covering the steps to correctly configure the Multilink switch for typical protective relaying applications. For this discussion the range of IP addresses that will be used are within the range of 3.94.247.1 to 3.94.247.254 using a subnet mask of 255.255.255.0.
QUICKSTART GUIDE 5.1.2 Fiber • Longer distances possible, limited only by attenuation • Immune to electrical noise • More difficult termination and splicing • Slightly higher cost for cable • Two categories: • multi-mode • single-mode 5.2 Supported Network Topologies With either media supported topologies include: star, mesh and ring.
QUICKSTART GUIDE • Additional Fiber Cables required 5.2.3 Ring Architecture • Full Network Redundancy • Allows for Fastest Network Recovery (RO mode has typical recovery time of 5 ms/ • Most Cost Effective Solution 5.3 10BASE T and 100BaseT Media 10 Base T and 100 Base T are the two most common twisted pair copper media standards.
QUICKSTART GUIDE 5.3.2 Ethernet: Unshielded Twisted Pair 100 metres max. FIGURE 11: Pin Layout for a RJ45 Ethernet Straight-through Cable The cable itself consists of four pairs of wires terminated in RJ45 connectors. The maximum permitted cable length is 100 meters. The cable pin connections can be one of two configurations.
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QUICKSTART GUIDE For the second twisted wire pair one wire is White with orange bands while the other wire is orange. The third twisted wire pair #3 consists of a white wire with green bands and a second wire that is green. The final wire pair, wire pair #4 consists of a white wire with brown bands while the other wire is Brown.
QUICKSTART GUIDE 6 Connecting Ethernet Media 6.1 Description The Unit s are specifically designed to support standard Ethernet media types within a single unit. This is accomplished by using a family of modules that are individually selected and configured. The supported media types with the corresponding IEEE 802.3, 802.3D, 802.3u, 802.3AB and 802.3z standards and connector types are as follows: Table 3: Ethernet media IEEE standard...
QUICKSTART GUIDE 6.3 Connecting SC-type Fiber Optics (snap-in) The following procedure applies to installations using modules with SC-type fiber connectors. These include the A3, A7, A8, G3, G4, G5, G7, G8, GC, GF, GH, and GJ modules. When connecting fiber media to SC connectors, simply snap on the two square male connectors into the SC female jacks of the module until it clicks and secures.
QUICKSTART GUIDE The following procedure describes how to connect a 1000Base-T twisted pair segment to the RJ45 port. The procedure is the same for both unshielded and shielded twisted pair cables. 1000Base-T connections require that all four pairs or wires be connected: Insert either end of the cable with an RJ45 plug into the RJ45 connector on the module.
QUICKSTART GUIDE 7 Hubs and Switches Two of the major Ethernet LAN components are "hubs" and "switches." There are many advantages of a switch over a hub. Hubs just transfer information from one port to all other ports. Since a hub has no way of handling media contention, collisions can occur requiring all segments connected to a hub to work in a half duplex mode.
QUICKSTART GUIDE 7.2 Single and Multi-mode cable 7.2.1 Fiber Cable Cross Section and Physical Specifications Multi Mode 125µm CORE 62.5µm CLAD • 62.5/125 µm • 50/125 µm* Single Mode CORE 8 µm 125 µm CLAD • 9/125 µm * Will become more popular as baud rate goes up This is a scaled drawing of both a 62.5/ 125 m multi mode fiber and 9/125 µm single mode fiber.
QUICKSTART GUIDE micrometer fiber is 8 microns in diameter (almost an eighth of that of the Multi-Mode fiber) surrounded by a second outer clad. This clad can pass a light signal, so for this reason the fiber is referred to as 9 by 125 micrometer fiber. FIGURE 13: Differences between Multi-Mode and Single-Mode Cable 7.2.2 Single mode fiber - Less attenuation per unit distance The difference between multi-mode and single mode cable can be best described as...
QUICKSTART GUIDE 8 Optical Power Budget Inevitably the question that arises is “What is the maximum practical communication distance when using a fiber optic cable?”. The answer isn’t straightforward, but must be calculated as follows: • First the "Optical Power Budget" is determined by subtracting the receiver’s rated sensitivity from the transmitter’s rated power, both of which are defined in decibels of light intensity.
QUICKSTART GUIDE Several styles of connector are used to terminate the attached to the end of the fiber cable. The ST and SC connectors shown below, are among the more popular. Ensures that the UR CPU, switch, and cable have compatible connectors. FIGURE 14: Common Fiber Optic Connectors 8.1 Assigning an IP address to the Multilin Switch The easiest way to configure the switch is through the WEB interface.
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QUICKSTART GUIDE The Hyperterminal utility application is a convenient standard firmware tool that will be used to configure the switch. This program is found on most windows based operating systems under programs > accessories > communications > Hyperterminal. Once the HyperTerminal application is launched you will need to cancel HyperTerminal’s dial sequence by left mouse clicking on the Cancel pushbutton.
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QUICKSTART GUIDE Select an icon and name to use for saving the new Hyperterminal configuration. Select the computer’s serial port that is connected to the Multilink switch. Select OK. In the next window set the baud rate to 38400, data bits to 8, no parity, one stop bit and set the flow control to none.
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QUICKSTART GUIDE Left mouse click on the OK icon to attempt communication to the Multilink switch. MULTILINK ETHERNET COMMUNICATIONS SWITCH – QUICKSTART GUIDE...
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QUICKSTART GUIDE Press the Enter key until the message Hit <Enter> to log into Unit system is displayed. Press the Enter key one more time to get the login prompt. Enter the login name manager and the default password manager. Once you are successfully logged in, the prompt will change to the model number of the switch you are connected to, followed by the pound (#) sign, indicating a successful login.
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QUICKSTART GUIDE In this example the switch that the computer is connected to is a Multilink ML1600. The instruction manual for the MultiLink provides a list of all instructions. A valid IP address and subnet mask can be programmed into the switch using the IP config command as follows: Type ipconfig ip=, then enter the IP address (in our example we will use a unique address between 3.94.244.1 and 3.94.244.254),...
QUICKSTART GUIDE Select the Enter key. The switch will ask if you would like to reboot the switch. Select Y for yes and Y again to save the new settings. Once the switch has completed a reboot, the new IP and subnet mask will be in effect.
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QUICKSTART GUIDE In order to configure the switch using the web-based interface the computer must be assigned an IP address and subnet mask. If you are already familiar with this procedure you may skip this step. Obtain an IP address, subnet mask, and possibly a gateway address, from the LAN administrator.
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QUICKSTART GUIDE Right mouse click on the Local Area Connections icon and select Properties. Locate and click on the Ethernet card (it will have TCPIP Protocol as part of its name). The Ethernet card is typically referred to as an Ethernet adaptor. MULTILINK ETHERNET COMMUNICATIONS SWITCH –...
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QUICKSTART GUIDE Select Use the following IP address then enter a unique IP address (from 3.94.247.001 to 3.94.247.254 if using our test network address range). Enter the subnet mask which, if using our test network, will be 255.255.252.0. Select OK, then OK again to exit the LOCAL AREA NETWORK PROPERTIES menu.
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QUICKSTART GUIDE Select Run then enter CMD to start the DOS shell. Addresses now being used Once the DOS shell has launched, you will be presented with a DOS window. At the DOS prompt enter the command ipconfig followed by the Enter key.
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QUICKSTART GUIDE Next launch Internet Explorer and enter the IP address of the switch to go to the switch’s web page. At the Multilink login web page, enter the default Login name, which is manager. Enter the default login Password, which is again manager. Left mouse click on the Login pushbutton to attempt to log in.
QUICKSTART GUIDE 8.3 Configuring the switch ports for UR redundant operation Primary Fiber Optic Ethernet Port Alternate Ethernet Port (optional) The universal relay offers a redundant port option once the link loss alert feature is enabled on the associated port, the relay will be able to detect a failure of the link, alarm, and switch to the alternate port.
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QUICKSTART GUIDE Select the Edit icon for port number one which has the name A1. Ensure that the LINK LOSS ALTER feature is enabled on port A1. To save the change (if made) click on the Save icon. Repeat this procedure for the fiber optic port on the second switch.. Enable LLA on both switch ports connected to the...
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QUICKSTART GUIDE To test the operation of the redundancy proceed as follows: Primary Fiber Optic Ethernet Port Alternate Ethernet Port (optional) Establish communication to one of the relays. Disconnect the normal port’s transmit or receive fiber. Note that communications to the relay aren’t disrupted, and check that Ethernet port diagnostics are enabled.
Tagged VLANs and priority are used within IEC 61850 GOOSE messaging. The objective of this exercise is to become familiar with the correct procedure to configure tagged VLANs within the GE Multilink switches, to support the IEC61850 GOOSE peer to peer messaging service.
QUICKSTART GUIDE 9.1.1 Configuring a VLAN within the switch First determine which physical ports are to be part of the tagged based VLAN. Take note the names of the associated ports displayed on the Multilink home page. In our example we want the ports named C5 and C7 to be part of the VLAN.
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QUICKSTART GUIDE Note these port numbers. Now open the VLANs menu and select the Type menu. In this menu set the VLAN type to tag. Select the Save icon. We have now configured the switch to support tagged based VLANs. SAVE We can now proceed to the tagged based VLAN menu .
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QUICKSTART GUIDE To create a new tag based VLAN to which to assign ports 21 and 23, first click on the Add pushbutton. A screen will open that will allow you to configure a new tag based VLAN. Within this screen enter the new VLAN ID number (or tag) and the name of the VLAN.
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QUICKSTART GUIDE You will notice below, that the status of the VLAN named GOOSE2 is displayed as Pending. To activate VLAN 2 proceed as follows. Select Status. Once in the Status menu, set the VLAN ID to 2 and the VLAN status to start.
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QUICKSTART GUIDE Select OK to start VLAN 2. You will notice that VLAN 2 is now active, and ports 21 and 23 are part of this VLAN. Ports 21 and 23 have been removed from the default tagged based VLAN1. You can add ports 21 and 23 back into the default tagged based VLAN 1 if you wish, such that they are part of both VLAN 1 and VLAN 2.
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QUICKSTART GUIDE Add ports 21 and 23 to tagged based VLAN 1 by checking the corresponding boxes. SAVE Select the save icon at the top of the screen. Select OK to return to the main tag VLAN menu. Note that ports 21 and 23 are now part of both VLAN1 and VLAN 2. You have now completed the exercise.
QUICKSTART GUIDE 9.2 Configuring the Multilink switch for Ring Only Mode This feature can be only be used when the switches are connected to form a single ring topology which means that only two ports per switch are used to form the ring and all other ports will not be part of another ring.
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QUICKSTART GUIDE From this screen we can see that the port named C5 is actually port 21. Note this port number. from the Administration menu open the Set menu. Open the STP type setting. Set STP to Rapid Spanning Tree (RSTP). MULTILINK ETHERNET COMMUNICATIONS SWITCH –...
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QUICKSTART GUIDE Save the setting. From the configuration menu open the RSTP menu. Select Bridge RSTP. Note that the protocol is still set to normal RSTP. Select the Edit icon. MULTILINK ETHERNET COMMUNICATIONS SWITCH – QUICKSTART GUIDE...
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QUICKSTART GUIDE Once in Edit mode, change the Status to Enabled Once these settings have been completed Save the configuration..THEN SAVE ENABLE STATUS... MULTILINK ETHERNET COMMUNICATIONS SWITCH – QUICKSTART GUIDE...
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QUICKSTART GUIDE Once saved, select OK, then OK again to exit. MULTILINK ETHERNET COMMUNICATIONS SWITCH – QUICKSTART GUIDE...
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QUICKSTART GUIDE Select the Configuration > RSTP > RO Mode menu as shown above. Click the Edit button to configure RO Mode. Select the desired ports that are part of the ring, as shown below. Click OK to exit. Only 2 ports can be selected to Ring Only Mode. MULTILINK ETHERNET COMMUNICATIONS SWITCH –...
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QUICKSTART GUIDE Select the Enabled option for the Status setting as shown below..then Save Enable status... Change status to Enable. Save the configuration by clicking on the icon. For proper recovery, disable the Link Loss Alert function on the port named C5 (port21) as follows: From the main port configuration menu, left mouse click on the Configuration icon for port 21.
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QUICKSTART GUIDE Save the settings. Repeat this procedure for the other port on this and the rest of the switches that form the ring. DISABLE LLA ON PORTS THAT ARE IN A RING Once this procedure has been completed for all ports forming the ring, connect the configured ports into the ring topology as shown below.
10 Multilink Firmware Updates 10.1 Updating MultiLink Firmware This section describesthe process for upgrading the firmware on a GE Multilink Ethernet switch. The methods describe updating the Multilink firmware either locally using the console port or remotely over the network using FTP or TFTP.
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QUICKSTART GUIDE It is recommended that you save the current switch configuration before upgrading the firmware. Enter the xmodem command as shown below: Click on the Transfer menu item and choose the Receive File option. Enter the path to the folder in which the configuration file will be stored Select Xmodem as the receiving protocol.
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QUICKSTART GUIDE Verify that the configuration file has been created and stored correctly. This completes the Save (original) Configuration procedure. The following procedure describes how to upgrade the firmware: Use the xmodem command: ML800/1200/1600/2400# Xmodem get type=app Do you wish to upgrade the image? [Y or N] Select the Transfer menu item and choose the Send File option Enter the location of the firmware file that has to be loaded into the switch.
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QUICKSTART GUIDE Click on the Send button. The file will start to load as shown below. Once the file transfer is complete, reboot the switch using the Reboot command, or by switching the power off then on. ML800/1200/1600/2400# reboot Proceed on rebooting the switch? [Y or N] Y Rebooting now...
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QUICKSTART GUIDE Select the Transfer menu item and choose the Send File option. Enter the location of the configuration file and select Xmodem for the protocol. Click on the Send button. The file will start to load as shown below: Once the transfer is complete, the switch will have to be rebooted either by entering Reboot or by switching the power off then on.
10.4.1 Using FTP It is always a good idea to save the configuration before an upgrade. GE Multilin recommends a two-step update: first save the configuration to the ftp server, then load the new image and restart the switch.
After reboot, the new version of the Multilink firmware is ready for use. 10.4.2 Using TFTP It is always a good idea to save the configuration before an upgrade. GE Multilin recommends a two-step update: first save the configuration to the ftp server, then load the new image and restart the switch.
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QUICKSTART GUIDE As the file is being loaded, you will see the file transfer in progress window. MULTILINK ETHERNET COMMUNICATIONS SWITCH – QUICKSTART GUIDE...
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QUICKSTART GUIDE Reboot the switch when the transfer is complete. After reboot, the new version of the Multilink firmware is ready for use. MULTILINK ETHERNET COMMUNICATIONS SWITCH – QUICKSTART GUIDE...