2-Switching Concepts

2.0.1
Why should I take this module?

Welcome to Switching Concepts!

You can connect and configure switches, that’s great! But

even a network with the newest technology develops its
own problems eventually. If you have to troubleshoot your
network, you need to know how switches work. This
module gives you the fundamentals of switches and switch
operation. Luckily, switch operation is easy to understand!

2.0.2
What will I learn to do in this module?

Module Title: Switching Concepts

Module Objective: Explain how Layer 2 switches forward

data.

Table caption
Topic Title Topic Objective
Explain how frames are
forwarded in a switched
Network.
Frame Forwarding
 Compare a collision domain to
Switching Domains
a broadcast domain.

Frame Forwarding

2.1.1
Switching in Networking

The concept of switching and forwarding frames is

universal in networking and telecommunications.

The decision on how a switch forwards traffic is made

based on the flow of that traffic. There are two terms
associated with frames entering and leaving an interface:

• Ingress - This is used to describe the port where a frame

enters the device.
• Egress - This is used to describe the port that frames will
use when leaving the device.

A LAN switch maintains a table that is referenced when

forwarding traffic through the switch. The only intelligence
of a LAN switch is its ability to use its table to forward
traffic. A LAN switch forwards traffic based on the ingress
port and the destination MAC address of an Ethernet frame.
With a LAN switch, there is only one master switching table
that describes a strict association between MAC addresses
and ports; therefore, an Ethernet frame with a given
destination address always exits the same egress port,
regardless of the ingress port it enters.

Note: An Ethernet frame will never be forwarded out the

same port it was on which it was received.

==============

2.1.2 -The Switch MAC Address Table

A switch is made up of integrated circuits and the

accompanying software that controls the data paths
through the switch. Switches use destination MAC
addresses to direct network communications through the
switch, out the appropriate port, toward the destination.

For a switch to know which port to use to transmit a frame,

it must first learn which devices exist on each port. As the
switch learns the relationship of ports to devices, it builds
a table called a MAC address table. This table is stored in
content addressable memory (CAM) which is a special type
of memory used in high-speed searching applications. For
this reason, the MAC address table is sometimes also
called the CAM table.

LAN switches determine how to handle incoming data

frames by maintaining the MAC address table. A switch
populates its MAC address table by recording the source
MAC address of each device connected to each of its ports.
The switch references the information in the MAC address
 table to send frames destined for a specific device out of
the port which has been assigned to that device.

=================

2.1.3-The Switch Learn and Forward Method

The following two-step process is performed on every

Ethernet frame that enters a switch.

Step 1. Learn - Examining the Source MAC Address

Every frame that enters a switch is checked for new

information to learn. It does this by examining the source
MAC address of the frame and port number where the
frame entered the switch:

• If the source MAC address does not exist in the MAC

address table, the MAC address and incoming port number
are added to the table.
• If the source MAC address does exist, the switch updates
the refresh timer for that entry. By default, most Ethernet
switches keep an entry in the table for five minutes. If the
source MAC address does exist in the table but on a
different port, the switch treats this as a new entry. The
entry is replaced using the same MAC address, but with the
more current port number.

Step 2. Forward - Examining the Destination MAC Address

 If the destination MAC address is a unicast address, the
switch will look for a match between the destination MAC
address of the frame and an entry in its MAC address table:

• If the destination MAC address is in the table, it will forward

the frame out of the specified port.
• If the destination MAC address is not in the table, the
switch will forward the frame out all ports except the
incoming port. This is called an unknown unicast. If the
destination MAC address is a broadcast or a multicast, the
frame is also flooded out all ports except the incoming
port.

======================================

Collision and Broadcast Domains

2.2.1
Collision Domains

In the previous topic, you gained a better understanding of

what a switch is and how it operates. This topic discusses
how switches work with each other and with other devices
to eliminate collisions and reduce network congestion. The
terms collisions and congestion are used here in the same
way that you use them in street traffic.

In legacy hub-based Ethernet segments, network devices

competed for the shared medium. The network segments
that share the same bandwidth between devices are
known as collision domains. When two or more devices
within the same collision domain try to communicate at
the same time, a collision will occur.

If an Ethernet switch port is operating in half-duplex,

each segment is in its own collision domain. There are no
collisions when switch ports are operating in full-duplex.
However, there could be a collision domain if a switch
port is operating in half-duplex.

By default, Ethernet switch ports will autonegotiate full-

duplex when the adjacent device can also operate in full-
duplex. If the switch port is connected to a device
operating in half-duplex, such as a legacy hub, then the
switch port will operate in half-duplex. In the case of half-
duplex, the switch port will be part of a collision domain.

As shown in the figure, full-duplex is chosen if both

devices have the capability along with their highest
common bandwidth
2.2.2
Broadcast Domains

A collection of interconnected switches forms a single

broadcast domain. Only a network layer device, such as a
router, can divide a Layer 2 broadcast domain. Routers are
used to segment broadcast domains, but will also segment
a collision domain.

When a device sends a Layer 2 broadcast, the destination

MAC address in the frame is set to all binary ones.
The Layer 2 broadcast domain is referred to as the MAC
broadcast domain. The MAC broadcast domain consists of
all devices on the LAN that receive broadcast frames from
a host.

When a switch receives a broadcast frame, it forwards the

frame out each of its ports, except the ingress port where
the broadcast frame was received. Each device connected
to the switch receives a copy of the broadcast frame and
processes it.

When two switches are connected together, the broadcast

domain is increased, as seen in the second half of the
animation. In this case, a broadcast frame is forwarded to
all connected ports on switch S1. Switch S1 is connected
to switch S2. The frame is then also propagated to all
devices connected to switch S2.

2.2.3
Alleviate Network Congestion

LAN switches have special characteristics that help them

alleviate network congestion. By default, interconnected
switch ports attempt to establish a link in full-duplex,
therefore eliminating collision domains. Each full-duplex
port of the switch provides the full bandwidth to the device
or devices that are connected to that port. Full-duplex
connections have dramatically increased LAN network
performance, and are required for 1 Gbps Ethernet speeds
and higher.

Switches interconnect LAN segments, use a MAC address

table to determine egress ports, and can lessen or
eliminate collisions entirely. Characteristics of switches
that alleviate network congestion

This file was written by: Elsayed Mohamed Elsayed.

My email for communication: [email protected]

WhatsApp and Telegram number ::: { +20 15 5911 6018 }

I wish you all the best