Master Vlans And Customer Vlans In Mrp; Control Ports And Free Ports; Configuration Considerations - Dell PowerConnect B-RX Configuration Manual

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Master VLANs and customer VLANs in MRP

Master VLANs and customer VLANs in MRP
A topology group enables you to control forwarding in multiple VLANs using a single instance of a
Layer 2 protocol such as MRP. For more information on topology group and MRP, refer to
VLANs and customer VLANs in a topology group"

Control ports and free ports

A port in a topology group can be a control port or a free port:
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Configuration considerations

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Control port – is a port in the master VLAN and therefore controlled by the Layer 2 protocol
configured in the master VLAN. The same port in all the member VLANs is controlled by the
master VLAN's Layer 2 protocol. Each member VLAN must contain all of the control ports (all
other ports in the member VLAN are "free ports.").
Free port – is not controlled by the master VLAN's Layer 2 protocol. The master VLAN can
contain free ports. (In this case, the Layer 2 protocol is disabled on those ports.) In addition,
any ports in the member VLANs that are not also in the master VLAN are free ports.
NOTE
Since free ports are not controlled by the master port's Layer 2 protocol, they are assumed to
always be in the Forwarding state when enabled.
You can configure up to 256 topology groups. Each group can control up to 4094 VLANs. A
VLAN cannot be controlled by more than one topology group.
The topology group must contain a master VLAN and can also contain individual member
VLANs, VLAN groups, or a combination of individual member VLANs and VLAN groups.
Therefore, configure the master VLAN and member VLANs or member VLAN groups before you
configure a topology group.
Once you add a VLAN as a member of a topology group, all the Layer 2 protocol information on
the VLAN is deleted.
If you add a new master VLAN to a topology group that already has a master VLAN, the new
master VLAN replaces the older master VLAN. All member VLANs and VLAN groups follow the
Layer 2 protocol settings of the new master VLAN.
If you remove the master VLAN (by entering no master-vlan <vlan-id>), the software selects the
new master VLAN from member VLANs. A new candidate master-vlan will be in configured
order to a member VLAN so that the first added membe VLAN will be a new candidate master
VLAN. Once you saved and reloaded, a member VLAN with the newest VLAN ID will be thenew
candidate master. The new master VLAN inherits the Layer 2 protocol settings of the older
master VLAN.
Once you add a VLAN or VLAN group as a member of a topology group, all the Layer 2 protocol
configuration information for the VLAN or group is deleted. For example, if STP is configured on
a VLAN and you add the VLAN to a topology group, the STP configuration is removed from the
VLAN. Once you add the VLAN to a topology group, the VLAN uses the Layer 2 protocol settings
of the master VLAN.
on page 408.
BigIron RX Series Configuration Guide
"Master
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