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GMRP Mode
Join Timer (Centi-
secs)
Leave Timer (Centi-
secs)
Leave All Timer
(Centisecs)
Refresh
Edit
4.4.8
IGMP Snooping
Internet Group Management Protocol (IGMP) Snooping is a feature that allows a
switch to forward multicast traffic intelligently on the switch. Multicast IP traffic is traf-
fic that is destined to a host group. Host groups are identified by class D IP
addresses, which range from 224.0.0.0 to 239.255.255.255. Based on the IGMP
query and report messages, the switch forwards traffic only to the ports that request
the multicast traffic. This prevents the switch from broadcasting the traffic to all ports
and possibly affecting network performance.
A traditional Ethernet network may be separated into different network segments to
prevent placing too many devices onto the same shared media. Bridges and
switches connect these segments. When a packet with a broadcast or multicast des-
tination address is received, the switch will forward a copy into each of the remaining
network segments in accordance with the IEEE MAC Bridge standard. Eventually,
the packet is made accessible to all nodes connected to the network.
This approach works well for broadcast packets that are intended to be seen or pro-
cessed by all connected nodes. In the case of multicast packets, however, this
approach could lead to less efficient use of network bandwidth, particularly when the
packet is intended for only a small number of nodes. Packets will be flooded into net-
work segments where no node has any interest in receiving the packet. While nodes
will rarely incur any processing overhead to filter packets addressed to un-requested
group addresses, they are unable to transmit new packets onto the shared media for
the period of time that the multicast packet is flooded. The problem of wasting band-
width is even worse when the LAN segment is not shared, for example in Full Duplex
links.
Allowing switches to snoop IGMP packets is a creative effort to solve this problem.
The switch uses the information in the IGMP packets as they are being forwarded
throughout the network to determine which segments should receive packets
directed to the group address.
4.4.8.1
Configuration
Use the IGMP Snooping Global Configuration and Status page to enable IGMP
snooping on the switch and view information about the current IGMP configuration.
Description
The administrative mode of GMRP on the interface. When enabled,
GMRP can help control the flooding of multicast traffic by keeping track
of group membership information. GMRP must also be enabled glob-
ally for the protocol to be active on the interface. When disabled, the
protocol will not be active on the interface, and the GARP timers have
no effect.
The amount of time between the transmission of GARP PDUs register-
ing (or re-registering) membership for a VLAN or multicast group.
The amount of time to wait after receiving an unregister request for a
VLAN or multicast group before deleting the associated entry. This
timer allows time for another station to assert registration for the same
attribute in order to maintain uninterrupted service.
The amount of time to wait before sending a LeaveAll PDU after the
GARP application has been enabled on the interface or the last Lea-
veAll PDU was sent. A LeaveAll PDU indicates that all registrations will
shortly be deregistered. Participants will need to rejoin in order to
maintain registration.
Click Refresh to update the screen.
Click Edit to edit the selected entries.
179
EKI-9500 Series User Manual
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