Operations - Cabletron Systems 7C03 MMAC SmartSWITCH Installation Manual

Cabletron systems installation guide smartswitch 7c03 mmac

Hide thumbs Also See for 7C03 MMAC SmartSWITCH:

Table of Contents

Introduction

1.3.3 Operations

Data packets entering through the front panel of a SmartSwitch

interface module in the 7C03 MMAC SmartSwitch are converted

by the module's hardware into frames that have a common

"canonical" format. Canonical frames are forwarded along the

7C03's SmartSwitch Bus to the 7X00 Module in slot one. The

conﬁguration of the 7X00 Module (either traditional switch or

SecureFast Packet Switch) determines the manner in which

canonical frames are processed.

When operating as a traditional switch (a store-and-forward

switch using the 802.1d Spanning Tree protocol), the 7X00

Module's SmartSwitch searches for the canonical frame's

destination address in the module's connection table. If the

canonical frame's destination address is found in the connection

table, the frame is forwarded to that speciﬁc destination via the

7C03's SmartSwitch Bus. If the canonical frame's destination

address is not found in the connection table, the frame is ﬂooded to

all of the SmartSwitch interface modules via the 7C03's

SmartSwitch Bus.

When operating as a SecureFast Packet Switch, the 7X00 Module's

SmartSwitch searches for the canonical frame's destination

address-source address (DA-SA) pair and receive port in the

module's connection table. If the canonical frame's entry is found

in the connection table, the frame is forwarded to a speciﬁc

destination via the 7C03's SmartSwitch Bus. If the canonical

frame's entry is not found in the connection table, a request is sent

to the system's Virtual Network Services (VNS). The VNS checks

its virtual routing tables and policy sections. If the frame's

information appears in the VNS' virtual routing tables and the

VNS' policy section contains an entry that veriﬁes that the frame's

source and the frame's destination are a valid combination, then

the frame is forwarded to its destination via the 7C03's

SmartSwitch Bus, and a corresponding entry is written to the

receiving module's connection table. Otherwise, the frame is

dropped.

1-5

Table of Contents