[TriLUG] OT: Ethernet hot-pluggability

[Aaron Joyner]

Brian Henning wrote:

> Power-over-Ethernet notwithstanding...

Power over Ethernet is a totally kosher thing to hot plug (right along 
with the rest of the 802.3 Ethernet standards).  PoE does *not* mean 
that the power lines in the wire are normally hot.  There is a protocol 
(802.3af) designed to allow the device end to request power, and allow 
the transmitting end to define how much power the port is allowed to 
consume.  This was designed to ensure that if you plug in something 
totally wrong into the port (like, a paper clip...) there will be no 
resulting damage to the switch or the device (yes, paper clips can melt 
:) ).

Enjoy plugging and unplugging your Ethernet cables!
Aaron S. Joyner