Chapter 6 Mac Table Configuration; Introduction To Mac Table; Obtaining Mac Table - Edge-Core ES4626 User Manual

Chapter 6 MAC Table Configuration

6.1 Introduction to MAC Table

MAC table is a table identifies the mapping relationship between destination MAC
addresses and switch ports. MAC addresses can be categorized as static MAC
addresses and dynamic MAC addresses. Static MAC addresses are manually configured
by the user, have the highest priority and are permanently effective (will not be
overwritten by dynamic MAC addresses); dynamic MAC addresses are entries learnt by
the switch in data frame forwarding, and is effective for a limited period. When the switch
receives a data frame to be forwarded, it stores the source MAC address of the data
frame and creates a mapping to the destination port. Then the MAC table is queried for
the destination MAC address, if hit, the data frame is forwarded in the associated port,
otherwise, the switch forwards the data frame to its broadcast domain. If a dynamic MAC
address is not learnt from the data frames to be forwarded for a long time, the entry will
be deleted from the switch MAC table.
There are two MAC table operations:
1. Obtain a MAC address;
2. Forward or filter data frame according to the MAC table.

6.1.1 Obtaining MAC Table

The MAC table can be built up staticlly and dynamically. Static configuration is to set
up a mapping between the MAC addresses and the ports; dynamic learning is the
process in which the switch learns the mapping between MAC addresses and ports, and
updates the MAC table regularly. In this section, we will focus on the dynamic learning
process of MAC table.
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