Shiratsuchi, Kenth F.

ECET515LA

ECE51 Engr. Warren Bejasa

Laboratory Exercise 9 Trunking Protocol in Layer 2 Switch

Introduction

VTP is a Layer 2 messaging protocol that manages the addition, deletion, and renaming of VLANs on a

network-wide basis to preserve VLAN configuration consistency. VTP reduces misconfigurations and

configuration inconsistencies, which can result in issues like duplicate VLAN names, improper VLAN-type

specifications, and security breaches.

You must determine whether or not to use VTP in your network before creating VLANs. VTP allows you

to make configuration changes on one or more switches from a central location and have those changes

automatically propagated to all other switches in the network. You can't transfer information about

VLANs to other switches without VTP.

VTP is designed to work in an environment where updates are made on a single switch and are sent

through VTP to other switches in the domain. It does not work well in a situation where multiple

updates to the VLAN database occur simultaneously on switches in the same domain, which would

result in an inconsistency in the VLAN database.

The switch supports VLANs, but the number of configured features affects the usage of the switch

hardware. If the switch is notified by VTP of a new VLAN and the switch is already using the maximum

available hardware resources, it sends a message that there are not enough hardware resources

available and shuts down the VLAN. The output of the show vlan user EXEC command shows the VLAN in

a suspended state.
A VTP domain (also known as a VLAN management domain) is made up of one or more interconnected

switches that share the same VTP domain name and are managed by the same person. A switch can only

be in one VTP domain at a time. You modify the domain's global VLAN configuration.

Until it gets an advertisement for a domain across a trunk connection (a link that transports traffic from

many VLANs) or until you configure a domain name, the switch is in the VTP no-management-domain

state by default. You can't establish or change VLANs on a VTP server until the management domain

name is provided or learned, and VLAN information isn't propagated over the network until the

management domain name is specified or learned.

The management domain name and the VTP configuration revision number are passed down to the

switch if it gets a VTP advertisement through a trunk link. Advertisements with a different domain name

or an earlier configuration revision number are then ignored by the switch.

VLAN configuration changes on a VTP server are broadcast to all switches in the VTP domain. All IEEE

trunk connections, including IEEE 802.1Q, are used to send VTP ads. VTP dynamically maps VLANs across

several LAN types using unique names and internal index associations. Mapping frees network

administrators from having to deal with a lot of device management.

connections between Ethernet segments last only for the duration of the packet. New connections can

be made between different segments for the next packet.

Cisco switches that support Layer 2 Ethernet ports solve congestion problems caused by high-bandwidth

devices and by a large number of users by assigning each device (for example, a server) to its own

10-, 100-, or 1000-Mbps collision domain. Because each LAN port connects to a separate Ethernet

collision domain, servers in a properly configured switched environment achieve full access to the

bandwidth.
Because collisions cause significant congestion in Ethernet networks, an effective solution is full-duplex

communication. Normally, Ethernet operates in half-duplex mode, which means that stations can either

receive or transmit. In full-duplex mode, two stations can transmit and receive at the same time. When

packets can flow in both directions simultaneously, the effective Ethernet bandwidth doubles.

Discussion

Each Layer 2 Ethernet port can connect to a single workstation or server, or to a hub through which

workstations or servers connect to the network.

On a typical Ethernet hub, all ports connect to a common backplane within the hub, and the bandwidth

of the network is shared by all devices attached to the hub. If two stations establish a session that uses a

significant level of bandwidth, the network performance of all other stations attached to the hub is

degraded.

To reduce degradation, the switch considers each LAN port to be an individual segment. When stations

connected to different LAN ports need to communicate, the switch forwards frames from one LAN port

to the other at wire speed to ensure that each session receives full bandwidth.

To switch frames between LAN ports efficiently, the switch maintains an address table. When a frame

enters the switch, it associates the MAC address of the sending network device with the LAN port on

which it was received.

The address table is built by using the source address of the frames received. When the switch receives

a frame for a destination address not listed in its address table, it floods the frame to all LAN ports of the

same VLAN except the port that received the frame. When the destination station replies, the switch

adds its relevant source address and port ID to the address table. The switch then forwards subsequent

frames to a single LAN port without flooding to all LAN ports.

The address table can store at least 32,000 address entries without flooding any entries. The switch uses

an aging mechanism, defined by a configurable aging timer, so if an address remains inactive for a

specified number of seconds, it is removed from the address table.

When you enable VTP pruning on a VTP server, it applies to the entire management domain. Making

VLANs pruning-eligible or pruning-ineligible affects only the VLANs on that trunk's pruning eligibility (not

on all switches in the VTP domain). (See the section on "Enabling VTP Pruning" for further information.)

After you enable VTP pruning, it takes a few seconds to take effect. VTP pruning does not prune traffic

on VLANs that are not suitable for pruning. VLAN 1 and VLANs 1002 through 1005 are always pruning-

ineligible, which means that traffic from these VLANs will never be pruned. Extended-range VLANs

(VLAN IDs greater than 1005) are likewise ineligible for pruning.

You use the vtp global configuration command to set the VTP password, the version, the VTP file name,

the interface providing updated VTP information, the domain name, and the mode, and to disable or

enable pruning. For more information about available keywords, see the command descriptions in the

Cisco IOS LAN Switching Command Reference. The VTP information is saved in the VTP VLAN database.

When VTP mode is transparent, the VTP domain name and mode are also saved in the switch running
configuration file, and you can save it in the switch startup configuration file by entering the copy

running-config startup-config privileged EXEC command. You must use this command if you want to save

VTP mode as transparent if the switch resets.

When you save VTP information in the switch startup configuration file and restart the switch, the

configuration is selected as follows:

If the VTP mode is transparent in both the startup configuration and the VLAN database and the VTP

domain name from the VLAN database matches that in the startup configuration file, the VLAN database

is ignored (cleared). The VTP and VLAN configurations in the startup configuration file are used. The

VLAN database revision number remains unchanged in the VLAN database.

If the VTP mode or the domain name in the startup configuration does not match the VLAN database,

the domain name and the VTP mode and configuration for the first 255 VLANs use the VLAN database

information.

When configuring VTP for the first time, you must always assign a domain name. You must configure all

switches in the VTP domain with the same domain name. Switches in VTP transparent mode do not

exchange VTP messages with other switches, and you do not need to configure a VTP domain name for

them.

ou can configure a password for the VTP domain, but it is not required. If you do configure a domain

password, all domain switches must share the same password and you must configure the password on

each switch in the management domain. Switches without a password or with the wrong password reject

VTP advertisements.

If you configure a VTP password for a domain, a switch that is booted without a VTP configuration does

not accept VTP advertisements until you configure it with the correct password. After the configuration,
the switch accepts the next VTP advertisement that uses the same password and domain name in the

advertisement.

If you are adding a new switch to an existing network with VTP capability, the new switch learns the

domain name only after the applicable password has been configured on it.

Reflection

A trunk can be set up between two or more switches, a router and a switch, or a switch and a host like a

server. If a device has trunking capabilities, look at the hardware to see if it has them. The focus of this

section will be on trunking between Cisco switches.

Multiple VLANs are multiplexed over a single physical link using a trunk. The way various television

broadcasts are multiplexed onto the airways using different frequencies is theoretically comparable to

this type of multiplexing. Each VLAN, in this comparison, is a different television station that shares the

same physical line.

Cisco supports only two types of trunks using Fast, Gigabit, and 10 Gigabit Ethernet ports: Cisco Inter-

Switch Link Protocol (ISL) and IEEE 802.1Q. The Dynamic Trunking Protocol (DTP) allows a port to

negotiate which method to use for trunking. DTP will first attempt to form an ISL trunk if both switches

support it; if not, DTP will attempt IEEE 802.1Q. DTP uses the address 01-00-0C-CC-CC-CC with a SNAP

value of 0x2004. DTP sends messages every 1 second, and after formation of the trunk, every 30

seconds. The ports negotiating the trunk will not participate in spanning tree until the negotiation is

complete. Recently, IEEE 802.1Q is being implemented in networks because it is an IEEE standard,
whereas ISL is proprietary to Cisco. Many Cisco routers and some older Cisco Catalyst switches do not

support dynamic trunking.

The move from hubs (shared networks) to switched networks was a big improvement. Control over

collisions, increased throughput, and the additional features offered by switches all provide ample

incentive to upgrade infrastructure. But Layer 2 switched topologies are not without their difficulties.

Extensive flat topologies can create congested broadcast domains and can involve compromises with

security, redundancy, and load balancing. These issues can be mitigated through the use of virtual local

area networks, or VLANs. This chapter provides the structure and operation of VLANs as standardized in

IEEE 802.1Q. This discussion will include trunking methods used for interconnecting devices on VLANs.

Trunk links are required to pass VLAN information between switches. A port on a Cisco switch is either

an access port or a trunk port. Access ports belong to a single VLAN and do not provide any identifying

marks on the frames that are passed between switches. Access ports also carry traffic that comes from

only the VLAN assigned to the port. A trunk port is by default a member of all the VLANs that exist on

the switch and carry traffic for all those VLANs between the switches. To distinguish between the traffic

flows, a trunk port must mark the frames with special tags as they pass between the switches. Trunking

is a function that must be enabled on both sides of a link. If two switches are connected together, for

example, both switch ports must be configured for trunking, and they must both be configured with the

same tagging mechanism (ISL or 802.1Q).

Using the option on is the most basic approach to configure a trunk link. This option enables the trunk,

but it also needs you to select a trunk tagging technique. The command switchport mode trunk is

analogous to the set trunk mod/port on command on IOS devices.

The Dynamic Trunking Protocol (DTP), which is used by many Cisco switches, is an automatic trunking

technique that allows a trunk to be dynamically established between two switches. The DTP protocol
can be used to create a trunk link on all COS and integrated IOS switches. The COS options auto, desired,

and on, as well as the IOS options dynamic auto, dynamic desirable, and trunk, enable DTP to create a

trunk link. If one side of the link is configured to trunk and send DTP signals, the other side of the link

will start trunking dynamically if the choices are correct.

A VLAN is a specialized network made up of one or more Local Area Networks. VTP is a Cisco proprietary

protocol that allows VLAN information to be exchanged. 1) VTP domain 2) VTP Pruning 3) VTP

Advertisements are all important VTP components. VTP modes are divided into three categories: 1)

server, 2) client, and 3) transparent. The most significant benefit of VTP is that it allows you to segment

your network into smaller VLANs for easier management. Check for incompatible VTP versions as well as

password-related issues. Backward compatibility is provided in the V3 version, as well as improved

resource handling and data transfer efficiency.

References

 https://www.cisco.com/en/US/docs/general/Test/dwerblo/broken_guide/layer2.html#wp1020

363

 https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/td/docs/switches/connectedgrid/cg-switch-sw-

master/software/configuration/guide/layer2/CGS_1000_L2/l2_vtp.html

 http://etutorials.org/Networking/Lan+switching+fundamentals/Chapter+4.+Layer+2+Fundamen

tals/Trunking+Methods/

 https://www.guru99.com/vlan-trunking-protocol.html