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DGS-3620 Series Layer 3 Managed Stackable Gigabit Switch Web UI Reference Guide
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Figure 4-3 Adding an IEEE 802.1Q Tag
Packets that are tagged (are carrying the 802.1Q VID information) can be transmitted from one 802.1Q compliant
network device to another with the VLAN information intact. This allows 802.1Q VLANs to span network devices
(and indeed, the entire network, if all network devices are 802.1Q compliant).
Port VLAN ID
Unfortunately, not all network devices are 802.1Q compliant. These devices are referred to as tag-unaware.
802.1Q devices are referred to as tag-aware.
Prior to the adoption of 802.1Q VLANs, port-based and MAC-based VLANs were in common use. These VLANs
relied upon a Port VLAN ID (PVID) to forward packets. An untagged packet received on a given port would be
assigned that port’s PVID and then be forwarded to the port that corresponded to the packet’s destination address
(found in the Switch’s forwarding table).
Within the Switch, different PVIDs mean different VLANs (remember that two VLANs cannot communicate without
an external router). So, VLAN identification based upon the PVIDs cannot create VLANs that extend outside a
given switch (or switch stack).
Every physical port on a switch has a PVID. 802.1Q ports are also assigned a PVID, for use within the Switch. If no
VLANs are defined on the Switch, all ports are then assigned to a default VLAN with a PVID equal to 1. Untagged
packets are assigned the PVID of the port on which they were received. Forwarding decisions are based upon this
PVID, in so far as VLANs are concerned. Tagged packets are forwarded according to the VID contained within the
tag.
Tag-aware switches must keep a table to relate PVIDs within the Switch to VIDs on the network. The Switch will
compare the VID of a packet to be transmitted to the VID of the port that is to transmit the packet. If the two VIDs
are different, the Switch will drop the packet. Because of the existence of the PVID for untagged packets and the
VID for tagged packets, tag-aware and tag-unaware network devices can coexist on the same network.
A switch port can have only one PVID, but can have as many VIDs as the Switch has memory in its VLAN table to
store them.
Because some devices on a network may be tag-unaware, a decision must be made at each port on a tag-aware
device before packets are transmitted – should the packet to be transmitted have a tag or not? If the transmitting
port is connected to a tag-unaware device, the packet should be untagged. If the transmitting port is connected to a
tag-aware device, the packet should be tagged.
Every port on an 802.1Q compliant switch can be configured as tagging or untagging.
Tagging and Untagging
Ports with tagging enabled will put the VID number, priority and other VLAN information into the header of all
packets that flow into and out of it.
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