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1. The destination MAC address is looked up in the bridge's forwarding table.
2. If the destination MAC address is found in the forwarding table, the packet is forwarded to the
corresponding port.
3. If the destination MAC address is not found in the forwarding table, the packet is flooded to all
the ports on the bridge.
Multiple Bridges and Spanning Tree Protocol
When using multiple bridges, you can enable fault tolerance and optimal packet routing, by configuring
Spanning Tree Protocol (STP - IEEE 802.1d). When STP is enabled, each bridge communicates with its
neighboring bridges or switches to discover how they are interconnected. This information is then used to
eliminate loops, while providing optimal routing of packets. STP also uses this information to provide fault
tolerance, by re-computing the topology in the event that a bridge or a network link fails.
Figure 15: Dual Redundant Bridges with STP
Chapter 7: Using Bridges
Overview
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Troubleshooting
