Ethernet operates at the data link and physical layers using MAC sublayers and LLC to encapsulate data. The Ethernet frame contains fields like source and destination MAC addresses, and error detection. Switches use MAC address tables to forward frames to the correct port based on destination addresses. Switches populate their tables by examining source addresses of incoming frames.
Ethernet operates at the data link and physical layers using MAC sublayers and LLC to encapsulate data. The Ethernet frame contains fields like source and destination MAC addresses, and error detection. Switches use MAC address tables to forward frames to the correct port based on destination addresses. Switches populate their tables by examining source addresses of incoming frames.
Ethernet operates at the data link and physical layers using MAC sublayers and LLC to encapsulate data. The Ethernet frame contains fields like source and destination MAC addresses, and error detection. Switches use MAC address tables to forward frames to the correct port based on destination addresses. Switches populate their tables by examining source addresses of incoming frames.
Ethernet operates at the data link and physical layers using MAC sublayers and LLC to encapsulate data. The Ethernet frame contains fields like source and destination MAC addresses, and error detection. Switches use MAC address tables to forward frames to the correct port based on destination addresses. Switches populate their tables by examining source addresses of incoming frames.
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Ethernet Frame
Ethernet operates in the data link layer and the physical layer. Ethernet standards define both the Layer 2 protocols and the Layer 1 technologies. Ethernet uses the LLC and MAC sublayers of the data link layer to operate. Data encapsulation includes the following: Ethernet frame, Ethernet addressing, and Ethernet error detection. Ethernet LANs use switches that operate in full-duplex. The Ethernet frame fields are: preamble and start frame delimiter, destination MAC address, source MAC address, EtherType, data, and FCS.
Ethernet MAC Address
Binary number system uses the digits 0 and 1. Decimal uses 0 through 9. Hexadecimal uses 0 through 9 and the letters A through F. The MAC address is used to identify the physical source and destination devices (NICs) on the local network segment. MAC addressing provides a method for device identification at the data link layer of the OSI model. An Ethernet MAC address is a 48-bit address expressed using 12 hexadecimal digits, or 6 bytes. An Ethernet MAC address consists of a 6 hexadecimal vendor OUI code followed by a 6 hexadecimal vendor assigned value. When a device is forwarding a message to an Ethernet network, the Ethernet header includes the source and destination MAC addresses. In Ethernet, different MAC addresses are used for Layer 2 unicast, broadcast, and multicast communications.
The MAC Address Table
A Layer 2 Ethernet switch makes its forwarding decisions based solely on the Layer 2 Ethernet MAC addresses. The switch dynamically builds the MAC address table by examining the source MAC address of the frames received on a port. The switch forwards frames by searching for a match between the destination MAC address in the frame and an entry in the MAC address table. As a switch receives frames from different devices, it is able to populate its MAC address table by examining the source MAC address of every frame. When the MAC address table of the switch contains the destination MAC address, it is able to filter the frame and forward out a single port.
Switch Speeds and Forwarding Methods
Switches use one of the following forwarding methods for switching data between network ports: store- and-forward switching or cut-through switching. Two variants of cut-through switching are fast-forward and fragment-free. Two methods of memory buffering are port-based memory and shared memory. There are two types of duplex settings used for communications on an Ethernet network: full-duplex and half-duplex. Autonegotiation is an optional function found on most Ethernet switches and NICs. It enables two devices to automatically negotiate the best speed and duplex capabilities. Full-duplex is chosen if both devices have the capability along with their highest common bandwidth. Most switch devices now support the automatic medium-dependent interface crossover (auto-MDIX) feature. When enabled, the switch automatically detects the type of cable attached to the port and configures the interfaces accordingly.
