The DES-1016D comes with 16 10/100Mbps ports, allowing a small workgroup to flexibly integrate to Ethernet and Fast Ethernet. These intelligent ports detect the network speed andauto-negotiate between 100BASE-TX and 10BASE-T, as well as between full and half-duplex. All ports support flow control. This function minimizesdropped packets by sending out collision signals when the port's receiving buffer is full.All ports support auto-negotiation of MDI/MDIX cross over.This eliminates the need for cross over cables or uplink ports. Anyport can simply plug to a server, a hub or a switch, using theusual straight-through twisted-pair cable.With 16 plug-and-play ports, the switch is a perfectchoice for workgroups to upgrade performance in a client/server environment. The ports can be connected to servers in full duplex, or hubs in half-duplex.With low-cost connection per-port, the switch can be setup for direct connection from the PCs. This relieves data bottleneck by giving each workstation a dedicated bandwidth on the network.