Configure Filtering And Forwarding Table - D-Link DES-3624 Series User Manual

Stackable NWay Ethernet Switch User's Guide

Configure Filtering and Forwarding Table

When a packet hits the Switch, it looks in the filtering and forwarding tables to decide what to do with the
packet; either to filter it off the network, or to forward it through the port on which its destination lies.
Dynamic Filtering and Static Filtering are among the two important features of the Custom Filtering Table.
They are defined here briefly as follows. Dynamic Filtering is defined when a dynamic entry is created by the
Learning Process as a result of observation of network traffic in the Filtering Database. Static Filtering is
defined as static entries that may be added and removed from the Filtering Database by the user. They are
not automatically removed by any timeout mechanism.
The Configure Filtering and Forwarding Table screen allows you to stop or start address learning,
change the way the Switch treats MAC address table entries, and select an age-out time of the MAC address
in the selected address table. This screen also permits you to access three additional configuration screens
from the menu at the bottom of the window.
Choose Configure Filtering and Forwarding Table from the System Configuration menu to access the
following screen:
The following fields at the top of the screen can be set:
♦ Lock Address Table Mostly used for security purposes, when the forwarding table is locked the Switch
will no longer learn the MAC addresses for new hosts. If your network configuration doesn't change,
locking the forwarding table helps keep intruders off your network since any packet coming from an
unknown source address will be dropped by the Switch.
♦ Address Table Lookup Mode This setting allows the user to tailor the MAC address look up procedure.
Choices are Level 0, Level 1, Level 2, Level 3, Level 4, Level 5, Level, 6, Level 7. The higher the level, the
more MAC addresses can be learned by the Switch. However, a side effect is that throughput will be
degraded the higher the level you select. This setting will take effect after your system reboots.
Using the Console Interface
Figure 6-20. Configure Filtering and Forwarding Table screen
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