Olicom CrossFire 8730, Reference Manual

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CrossFire 8730 Switch Reference Guide, DOC-7047 v. 1.1 Introduction
Multiple Bridging Modes
Feature Function Benefit
Transparent
and Source Route
Switching (SRS)
Switching is based on
MAC addresses only.
Learns MAC
addresses and source
routing route
descriptors of Source
Route Bridges
attached to local
switch ports. Allows easy installation in
environments with no need for
Source Route Bridging.
Source Route
Bridging (SRB) The switch ports may
be grouped into logical
rings. The switch acts
as a standard
multiport Source
Route Bridge between
logical rings. Non
Source Route frames
(NSR) are not
forwarded outside the
logical ring. Allows easy installation in
existing Token-Ring networks
where Source Route Bridges are
used. Allows easy replacement
of bridges with switches.
Source Route
Transparent
Bridging (SRT) NSR frames are
forwarded between
Logical Rings based
on MAC address.
Source Route frames
are forwarded as by
SRB. Allows the mix of source route
and non source route protocols
in the network.
SRT/SRB Combines the SRT
and SRB modes. Allows the use of duplicate
MAC addresses when running in
SRT. Ports with duplicate MAC
addresses are reachable only via
source routing. Duplicate MAC
addresses are typically found in
installations utilizing SNA
gateways and/or front-ends.
Table 2. Benefits of the Multiple Bridging Modes