Garp Vlan Registration Protocol (Gvrp) - Intel ES460MSX - Ethernet 1000Base SX Switch Module User Manual

C H A P T E
460T Ch2.p65
R 2 Using the Express 460T Switch

GARP VLAN Registration Protocol (GVRP)

Since IEEE 802.1Q VLANs can span networks, it poses a challenge for
network administrators to manage changes to the VLAN. The GARP VLAN
Registration Protocol (GVRP) provides a dynamic mechanism for switches
to share topology information and manage changes with other switches.
This alleviates the network administrator from manually propagating VLAN
configuration information across switches.
GARP (Generic Attribute Registration Protocol) is defined by the IEEE
802.1D (1998 Edition) specification and is the mechanism used by switches
and end nodes to propagate VLAN configurations across the network
domain. GVRP uses GARP as a foundation to propagate VLAN
configurations to other switches. Devices that support GVRP transmit their
updates to a known multicast address that all GVRP-capable devices
monitor for information updates.
Sending GVRP messages between switches accomplishes the following
tasks:
• Dynamically adds or removes a port from participating in a VLAN.
• Sends updates about the switch's own VLAN configuration to
neighboring GVRP-capable devices.
• Integrates dynamic and static VLANs configurations within the same
switch. Static VLAN configurations are created by the user on the
switch for devices that don't support GVRP.
It's important to remember that dynamically created VLANs are not saved
in the switch's memory. When the device that is sending out the GVRP
updates is disabled or rebooted the dynamic VLAN is removed.
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