Modular Ethernet Switch User’s Guide
Using the Console Interface
49
same. The higher the port priority, the more chance the port has of becoming the designated port.
Zero is the highest priority.
Note:
If a port is a member of a trunk group but is not the anchor, the items shown in the above table
will be read-only and the values will be the same as those for the anchor port. Use the anchor
port to change settings for all members of the trunk group.
Configure Filtering and Forwarding Table
When a packet hits the Switch, it looks in the filtering and forwarding tables to decide what to do with the
packet; either to filter it off the network, or to forward it through the port on which its destination lies.
Dynamic Filtering and Static Filtering are among the two important features of the Custom Filtering Table.
They are defined here briefly as follows.
Dynamic Filtering
is defined when a dynamic entry is created by the
Learning Process as a result of observation of network traffic in the Filtering Database.
Static Filtering
is
defined as static entries that may be added and removed from the Filtering Database by the user. They are
not automatically removed by any timeout mechanism.
The
Configure Filtering and Forwarding Table
screen allows you to stop or start dynamic address
learning by locking the address table, change the way the Switch looks up and stores MAC address table
entries, and select an age-out time for dynamically learned MAC addresses in the forwarding table. This
screen also permits you to access three additional configuration screens from the menu at the bottom of the
window.
Choose
Configure Filtering and Forwarding Table
from the
System Configuration
menu to access the
following
screen:
Figure 6-22. Configure Filtering and Forwarding Table screen
The following fields at the top of the screen can be set:
♦
Lock Address Table
Mostly used for security purposes, when the forwarding table is locked the Switch
will no longer learn the MAC addresses for new hosts. If your network configuration doesn’t change,
locking the forwarding table helps keep intruders off your network since any packet destined for an
unknown MAC address will be dropped by the Switch.
♦
Address Table Lookup Mode
This setting allows the user to tailor the MAC address look up procedure.
Choices are
Level 0, Level 1
,
Level 2
,
Level 3
,
Level 4
,
Level 5
,
Level, 6, Level 7.
The higher the level, the
more MAC addresses can be learned by the Switch. However, a side effect is that throughput will be
degraded the higher the level you select. This setting will take effect after your system reboots.
♦
MAC Address Age Time
Enter the desired MAC address age-out time in this field (10 to 9999 seconds).
