Shiratsuchi, Kenth F.

ECET515LA

ECE51 Engr. Warren Bejasa

Laboratory Exercise 7 Basic Configurations of Layer 2 Switch

Introduction

Between Layer 2 Ethernet segments, the device permits simultaneous, parallel connections. Switched

Ethernet segment connections are only active for the duration of the packet. For the next packet,

new connections between distinct segments can be created.

By assigning each device (for example, a server) to its own 10-, 100-, 1000-Mbps, or 10-Gigabit

collision domain, the device alleviates congestion issues caused by high-bandwidth devices and a

large number of users. Servers in a switched environment have complete access to the bandwidth

since each LAN port connects to a different Ethernet collision domain.

Because collisions cause significant congestion in Ethernet networks, full-duplex communication is an

efficient solution. In most cases, 10/100-Mbps Ethernet works in half-duplex mode, which means

stations can only receive or transmit data. Two stations can send and receive at the same time in

full-duplex mode, which is selectable on these interfaces. The effective Ethernet bandwidth doubles

when packets may flow in both directions at the same time. Full duplex is the only mode of operation

for 1/10-Gigabit Ethernet.

Switching Frames Between Segments

A device's LAN ports can connect to a single workstation, server, or another device that connects

workstations and servers to the network. Each LAN port is treated as a separate segment by the

device to reduce signal loss. When stations connected to various LAN ports need to communicate,

the device sends frames at wire speed from one LAN port to the next, ensuring that each session
gets its full bandwidth. The device keeps an address table to efficiently swap frames between LAN

ports. When a frame reaches the device, it links the sender network device's media access control

(MAC) address with the LAN port on which it was received.

Building the Address Table and Address Table Changes

The device creates the address table dynamically based on the MAC source address of the frames

it receives. When the device receives a frame with a MAC destination address that isn't in its address

database, it floods the frame to all LAN ports in the same VLAN save the one where the frame was

received. When the destination station responds, the device updates the address table with its MAC

source address and port ID. Following that, the device sends further frames to a single LAN port

rather than flooding all LAN ports.

You can customize MAC addresses, also known as static MAC addresses, to point to certain

interfaces on the device. On those interfaces, these static MAC addresses take precedence over

any dynamically learnt MAC addresses. Static MAC addresses can't be used for broadcast or

multicast addresses. The device's static MAC entries are kept after a reboot. You must explicitly

specify identical static MAC addresses on each devices connected by a virtual port channel (vPC)

peer link starting with Cisco NX-OS Release 4.1(5). When employing vPCs, the MAC address table

is updated to display information on MAC addresses.

The address table can store up to 128,000 address entries. The device 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.

MAC Address Tables on the Supervisor and Modules that are consistent
Ideally, each module's MAC address tables should match the supervisor's MAC address table

exactly. When you enter the show forwarding consistency l2 command in NX-OS 4.1(2), the device

displays any discrepant, missing, or additional MAC address entries.

Static MAC Addresses at Layer 3

You can set a static MAC address for all Layer 3 interfaces starting with Release 4.2. The VDC

MAC address is the default MAC address for Layer 3 interfaces.

Discussion

Bridges and layer 2 switches are similar. They connect networks at layer 2, usually at the MAC sublayer,

and act as bridges, constructing tables for frame transmission between networks.

Layer 2 switches were created to solve the problem of shared media LAN congestion. As structured cabling

became more common and star-based access to network centers became more common, the use of

existing cabling and network adapters allowed traditional LANs like Ethernet and Token Ring to continue

to be used while layer 2 switches were developed. The original purpose of these switches was to allow

each associated end system to use a single LAN segment, if possible, to reduce contention delays that

occurred in older shared segments. Collisions are avoided and delay is reduced using an Ethernet switch

and a dedicated Ethernet segment per associated system, for example.

Layer 2 switches execute all functions that traditional bridges accomplish, due to the need for

autonomous operation and high performance. They use specialized hardware for frame forwarding, and

some even use cut-through routing techniques instead of the conventional store-and-forward

methodology used in conventional bridges, due to their focus on performance for dedicated segments. In

contrast to traditional bridges, which are more programmable and allow a larger range of heterogeneous
LANs, their main distinction from bridges is often the technology used to accomplish frame forwarding,

which is mostly hardware-based.

Switches are like bridges, except that they have multiple ports with the same type of connection (bridges

generally have only two ports) and have been described as nothing more than fast bridges. Switches are

used on heavily loaded networks to isolate data flow and improve the network performance. In most

cases, most users get little, if any, advantage from using a switch rather than a hub.

That’s not to oversimplify and suggest that a switch doesn’t have many benefits. Switches can be used to

connect both hubs and individual devices. These approaches are known as segment switching and port

switching, respectively.

Segment switching implies that each port on the switch functions as its own segment. This process tends

to increase the available bandwidth, while decreasing the number of devices sharing each segment’s

bandwidth, but at the same time maintaining the Layer 2 connectivity. Each shared hub and the devices

that are connected to it make up their own media access domain, while all devices in both domains remain

part of the same MAC broadcast domain. Figure 4.21 illustrates how a segment-switched LAN can be

divided to improve performance.

 Reflection

References

Each port on the switching hub is directly connected to a single device, which is known as port

switching. This creates a self-contained media access domain for the port and the device. The

network's devices are still all part of the same MAC broadcast domain. In a port-switched LAN,

Figure 4.22 shows how the media access and MAC broadcast domains are set.

At the Data Link layer, Layer 2 switches can be designed to respond automatically to a variety of

circuit circumstances. These switches monitor control and data events and automatically redirect

circuits or switch to backup equipment as needed. Physical network, or MAC, addresses are used
 by these switches. These shifts will be quick, but not particularly intelligent. They just examine the

data packet to determine its destination.

Reflection

Layer 2 switching (also known as Data Link Layer switching) is the process of deciding where to

route frames based on the MAC addresses of devices. Layer 2 switching is done through switches

and bridges. They divide a huge collision domain into several smaller ones.

All hosts in a typical LAN are connected to a single central device. Previously, the device was

almost always a hub. Hubs, on the other hand, have a number of drawbacks, such not being aware

of traffic passing through them, generating a single huge collision domain, and so on. Bridges were

built to solve some of the issues with hubs. They were better than hubs since they produced many

collision domains, but their number of ports was restricted. Switches were finally invented, and

they are still commonly used today. Switches have more ports than bridges, and they can evaluate

incoming traffic and make appropriate forwarding decisions. Furthermore, because each port on

a switch has its own collision domain, no packet collisions should occur.

Layer 2 switches are faster than routers because they don’t take up time looking at the Network layer

header information. Instead, they look at the frame’s hardware addresses to decide what to do with the

frame – to forward, flood, or drop it. Here are other major advantages of Layer 2 switching:

 fast hardware-based bridging (using ASICs chips)

 wire speed

 low latency

 low cost
Here is an example of the typical LAN network – the switch serves as a central device that connects all

devices together:

Differences

between hubs and

switches

To better understand the concept of frame switching based on the hardware address of a

device, you need to understand how switches differ from hubs.

First, consider an example of a LAN in which all hosts connects to a hub:

As previously stated, hubs only form a single collision domain, hence the likelihood of a collision is

significant. No frame filtering is used because the hub pictured above just repeats the signal it receives

out all ports save the one from which the signal was received. Consider how a packet would be transmitted

to 19 hosts instead of just one if you had 20 hosts connected to a hub. Because an attacker can capture

all network communication, this can also present security issues.

Now consider the way the switches work. We have the same topology as above, only this time we are

using a switch instead of a hub:

Switches increase the number of collision domains. Each port is one collision domain, which means that

the chances for collisions to occur are minimal. A switch learns which device is connected to which port

and forwards a frame based on the destination MAC address included in the frame. This reduces traffic

on the LAN and enhances security.

References:

 https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/computer-science/layer-2-switch

 https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/td/docs//datacenter/sw/5_x/nx-

os/layer2/configuration/guide/Cisco_Nexus_7000_Series_NX-

OS_Layer_2_Switching_Configuration_Guide_Release_5-x_chapter3.html

 https://study-ccna.com/layer-2-switching/