Chapther 1

Fundamentals Review

CCNP R&S SWITCH: Implementing IP Switching

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Chapter 1 Objectives
Switch Operation, Layer 2 Switch Operation, Transparent
Bridging
Ethernet Overview, Switch Port Configuration
Basic Definition: VLANs and Trunks, Traditional Spanning
Tree Protocol, Aggregating Switch Links, Switch Port
Aggregation with EtherChannel.
Basic Definition: Multilayer Switch Operation
Hubs and Swtiches, Bridges and Switches, Broadcast
Domains, The Basic Ethernet Frame Format, Basic
Switching Function, VLANs, The Spanning Tree Protocol,
Trunking, Port-Channels, MultiLayer Switching (MLS)

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Chapther 1
Fundamentals
Review

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Layer 2 Switch Operation

An Ethernet switch operates at OSI Layer 2, making decisions about
forwarding frames based on the destination MAC addresses found
within the frames. This means that the Ethernet media is no longer
shared among connected devices. Instead, at its most basic level, an
Ethernet switch provides isolation between connected hosts in several
ways:
The collision domains scope is severely limited.
Host connections can operate in full-duplex mode because there
is no contention on the media.
Bandwidth is no longer shared
Errors in frames are not propagated
You can limit broadcast traffic to a volume threshold.

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Transparent Bridging
A Layer 2 switch is basically a multiport transparent bridge,
where each switch port is its own Ethernet LAN segment,
isolated from the others. Frame forwarding is based
completely on the MAC addresses contained in each frame,
such that the switch will not forward a frame unless it knows
the destinations location.

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Transparent Bridging

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Ethernet Overview
Ethernet is a LAN technology based on the Institute of Electrical and
Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.3 standard. Ethernet offers a
specific bandwidth between end users. In its most basic form,
Ethernet is a shared medium that becomes both a collision and a
broadcast domain.
Ethernet is based on the carrier sense multiple access collision
detect (CSMA/CD) technology,which requires that transmitting
stations back off for a random period of time when a collision occurs.
If a station must wait its turn to transmit, it cannot transmit and
receive at the same time. This is called half-duplex operation.

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Ethernet Overview
Typically, each generation of Ethernet offers a ten-fold bandwidth
improvement. Even so, the Ethernet cabling schemes, CSMA/CD
operation, and all upper-layer protocol operations are maintained
with each generation. The net result is the same data link Media
Access Control (MAC) layer (OSI Layer 2) merged with a new
physical layer (OSI Layer1).

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Ethernet Overview
Fast Ethernet
10-Gigabit Ethernet

Gigabit Ethernet

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Virtual LANs
By definition, a VLAN is a single broadcast domain. All devices
connected to the VLAN receive broadcasts sent by any other VLAN
members. However, devices connected to a different VLAN will not
receive those same broadcasts.

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VLAN Membership
When a VLAN is provided at an access layer switch, an end user must
have some means of gaining membership to it. Two membership
methods exist on Cisco Catalyst switches:
Static

VLAN

configuration:

Static

VLANs

offer

port-based

membership, in which switch ports are assigned to specific VLANs.

Dynamic VLAN assignment: Dynamic VLANs provide membership
based on the MAC address of an end-user device, rather than the
switch port where it is connected.

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IEEE 802.1D Overview

A robust network design not only includes efficient transfer of packets or

frames, but also considers how to recover quickly from faults in the network.
In a Layer 3 environment, the routing protocols in use keep track of
redundant paths to a destination network so that a secondary path can be
used quickly if the primary path fails. Layer 3 routing allows many paths to a
destination to remain up and active, and allows load sharing across multiple
paths.
In a Layer 2 environment (switching or bridging), however, no routing
protocols are used, and active redundant paths are neither allowed nor
desirable. Instead, some form of bridging provides data transport between
networks or switch ports. The Spanning Tree Protocol (STP) provides
network link redundancy so that a Layer 2 switched network can recover
from failures without intervention in a timely manner. The STP is defined in
the IEEE 802.1D standard.

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VLAN Trunks

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VLAN Frame Identification

VLAN identification can be performed using two methods, each using
a different frame identifier mechanism:
Inter-Switch Link (ISL) protocol: protocol is a Cisco-proprietary
method for preserving the source VLAN identification of frames
passing over a trunk link.

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VLAN Frame Identification

VLAN identification can be performed using two methods, each using
a different frame identifier mechanism:
IEEE 802.1Q protocol: The IEEE 802.1Q protocol also can carry
VLAN associations over trunk links.

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Aggregating Switch Links

Cisco offers another method of scaling link bandwidth by aggregating,

or bundling, parallel links, termed the EtherChannel technology. Two
to eight links of either Fast Ethernet (FE), Gigabit Ethernet (GE), or
10-Gigabit Ethernet (10GE) can be bundled as one logical link of Fast
EtherChannel (FEC), Gigabit EtherChannel (GEC), or 10-Gigabit
Etherchannel (10GEC), respectively.

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Multilayer Switch Operation

Many Cisco Catalyst switches can also forward frames based on
Layers 3 and 4 information contained in packets. This is known as
multilayer switching (MLS). Naturally, Layer 2 switching is
performed at the same time because even the higher-layer
encapsulations still are contained in Ethernet frames.
Types of Multilayer Switching:
Catalyst switches have supported two basic generations or types of
MLS:

route caching (first-generation MLS) and

topology based

(second-generation MLS).

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Multilayer Switch Operation

Route caching: The first generation of MLS, requiring a route

processor (RP) and a switch engine (SE). The RP must process a
traffic flows first packet to determine the destination. The SE listens to
the first packet and to the resulting destination, and then sets up a
shortcut entry in its MLS cache. The SE forwards subsequent
packets belonging to the same traffic flow based on shortcut entries in
its cache.

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Multilayer Switch Operation

Topology based: The second generation of MLS, utilizing specialized
hardware, is also organized with distinct RP and SE functions. The RP
uses Layer 3 routing information to build and prepopulate a single
database of the entire known network topology. This database
becomes an efficient table lookup in hardware, and is consulted so
that packets can be forwarded at high rates by the SE. This type of
MLS is known as Cisco Express Forwarding (CEF). A routing process
running on the switch downloads the current routing table database
into the Forwarding Information Base (FIB) area of hardware.

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Chapther 1
Fundamentals
Review

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Tcl Script Reference and Demonstration

Tcl scripts can be created to accomplish routine and repetitive functions
with Cisco IOS-based networking devices. To construct a simple
connectivity verification script, do the following.
Open a text editor and create a new text file. Using a text file saves time,
especially if you are pasting the Tcl script into multiple devices.
Start with the tclsh command to enter Tcl shell mode in which you can use
native Tcl instructions like foreach or issue EXEC mode commands. You
can also access configuration mode from within the Tcl shell and issue
configuration commands from their respective menus, although these
features are not explored in this lab.

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Tcl Script Reference and Demonstration

R1# tclsh
R1(tcl)#
Begin a loop using the foreach instruction. The loop iterates over a
sequence of values, executing a defined sequence of instructions
once for each value. Think of it as for each value in Values, do each
instruction in Instructions. For each iteration of the loop, $identifier
reflects the current value in Values. The foreach instruction uses the
following model

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Tcl Script Reference and Demonstration

The foreach instruction uses the following model
foreach identifier {
value1
value2
...
valueX
}{
instruction1
Instruction2
...
instructionY
}

foreach address {
10.1.1.1
10.1.2.1
10.1.3.1
10.2.1.1
10.2.2.1
10.2.3.1} {
ping $address
}

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Chapter 1 Summary
Basic Definition: Bridges and Switches, Broadcast
Domains, MAC Addresses, The Basic Ethernet
Frame Format, Basic Switching Function, VLANs,
The Spanning Tree Protocol Trunking, Port-Channels,
MultiLayer Switching (MLS)
Note:

MAC Address details and

frame format

details; This is a CCNA-Level Task

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Chapter 1 Labs
Chapter 1 Lab - Preparing the Switch

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Chapter #
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