Connecting to an Ethernet network

Supported Ethernet NICs

Your gateway has one onboard 10Base-T/100Base-TX Ethernet port. It also supports the following Ethernet NICs in the PCI slots of your gateway motherboard:

Copper Gigabit Ethernet (GbE) NIC (with an RJ-45 connection)
Fiber optic GbE NIC
Note
See the slot assignments for your system before installing NICs into your gateway.

Supported Ethernet connections

Use the following table to determine the Ethernet connection and cabling requirements of your Ethernet NICs.

Caution
Do not exceed the maximum cable length specification.

Ethernet type	Supported ports	Cabling requirements	Distance
10Base-T 100Base-TX (copper)	Onboard Single (GF825 only)	Category 3 (10Base-T only) or 5 (10Base-T/100Base-TX) unshielded twisted-pair (UTP) copper cable with RJ-45 connectors Note The onboard Ethernet port on the GF900 series requires a cable of 1m length minimum.	100m max.
10Base-T/ 100Base-TX/ 1000Base-TX (copper)	Single Dual Quad (GF900 series only)	Category 5 unshielded twisted-pair (UTP) copper cable with RJ-45 connectors	100m max.
1000Base-SX (fiber)	Single Dual	50 micron multimode fiber optic cable with SC or LC connector	550m max.
1000Base-SX (fiber)	Single Dual	62.5 micron multimode fiber optic cable with SC or LC connector	220m max.

Connecting to a single-port GbE NIC using copper cabling

To connect to the onboard Ethernet port or to a single-port GbE NIC using copper cabling, complete the following step, using the figure for reference.

Step

Action

Push the RJ-45 connector into the Ethernet port, until it clicks and locks into place.

Caution
If you use a single-port copper GbE NIC, you must place a ferrite on your cable approximately four inches from the NIC port.

The following figure shows a UTP cable with an RJ-45 connector connecting to a single-port copper GbE NIC.

Connecting to a multiport GbE NIC using copper cabling

To connect to a multiport GbE NIC using copper cabling, complete the following step, using the figure for reference.

Step	Action
1	Push the RJ-45 connector into the Ethernet port until it clicks and locks into place. Repeat this step to connect another network to the remaining ports. The following figure shows two UTP cables with RJ-45 connectors connecting to a dual-port copper GbE NIC.

Step

Action

Push the RJ-45 connector into the Ethernet port until it clicks and locks into place. Repeat this step to connect another network to the remaining ports.

The following figure shows two UTP cables with RJ-45 connectors connecting to a dual-port copper GbE NIC.

Connecting to a single-port GbE NIC using fiber optic cabling

To connect to a single-port GbE NIC using fiber optic cabling, complete the following step, using the figure for reference.

Step

Action

Push the SC connector into the Ethernet port until it clicks and locks into place.

The following illustration shows a fiber cable with an SC connector connecting to a single-port fiber GbE NIC.

Note
Your single-port fiber NIC might have an LC connector.

Connecting to a dual-port GbE NIC using fiber optic cabling

To connect to a dual-port GbE NIC using fiber optic cabling, complete the following step.

Step

Action

Push the LC connector into the Ethernet port NIC, until it clicks and locks into place. Repeat this step for the second port.

The following figure shows two fiber cables with LC connectors connecting to a dual-port fiber GbE NIC.