Physical Link Management

Creation and modification of Physical Link items in ArenaCore is completed using simple drag and drop style gestures.

The steps required for creation of a Physical Link are as follows:

• identify and hover the mouse pointer over an empty ‘source’ interface port. Note that the mouse will change into a hand style shape when positioned over an empty port – the gesture cannot begin until this has occurred.
• click and hold down the left hand mouse button on the port,
• drag the cursor in the direction of a compatible empty ‘destination’ interface port,
• drop the extended physical link onto the target port.

Note that compatible empty destination ports will appear highlighted in green when the drag gesture travels across the parent item of those ports. Ports that are incompatible with the source port (from which the gesture was originated) will be highlighted in red.

Port compatibility is based on comparison of the Resource Role(s) supported by each port. Please refer to Physical Port Compatibility for more information regarding how port compatibility is defined .

Physical links are presented in ‘orthogonal’ form, meaning that instead of being displayed in a single direct straight line between the source and destination ports, the link is broken into horizontal and vertical segments as is required to form the link from end to end.

The benefit of this is that in situations where chassis items are placed in close proximity (e.g. within a Rack), the visual organisation of large numbers of links can be managed more effectively.

Once a link has been created, it is possbile to reshape the link by dragging any of the desired orthogonal segments to another position. This enables even large numbers of links to be overlaid in some areas but spaced apart in others.

Note that it is possible to move link segments without having first selected the link – this is described as being an ‘unselected’ move.

In order to move one end of a link from its existing port to a different port, it is necessary first to select the link itself. This will reveal the endpoints of the link, which can then be grabbed using the mouse and relocated to an alternative compatible empty port.

Please note that it is not currently possible to extend a physical link between management pages. This capability is planned for inclusion in a future platform update.