The LinkSwitch 2700 is an integrated Ethernet workgroup switch with the added advantage of an Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM) port for high-speed backbone or server connections. The switch is ideal for workgroups and small departmental LANs that need increased bandwidth across Ethernet ports, and also require a high-speed ATM downlink to an ATM backbone now or in the future. The LinkSwitch 2700 features ASIC-based processing that supports 12 switched Ethernet connections (cut-through or store-and-forward software-selectable modes) and an integrated ATM port for high-bandwidth server and backbone downlinks. The unit uses ZipChip technology which segments Ethernet frames into cells and switches them at 780, 000 cells per second, guaranteeing full 10 Mbps bandwidth on all Ethernet ports. The ATM port accommodates an 155 Mbps SONET/SDH interface for local and collapsed backbone ATM connections, or a 45 Mbps DS-3 interface for wide area links. Switch 2700 supports virtual networks.