3Com OfficeConnect 3C100XF Cli User's Manual

Also see for OfficeConnect 3C100XF: Quick start guide

Contents

3Com OfficeConnect 3C100XF Cli User's Manual Manual pdf 63 page image

6 BRIDGING C OMMANDSOverview This chapter identifies and describes the Bridging commands accessible from theOfficeConnect Gateway CLI. A bridge connects two or more physical networkstogether to function as one large network. The OfficeConnect Gateway can beconfigured to be a learning bridge. A learning bridge does more than just linknetworks; it separates network traffic and forwards only the packets that need tobe forwarded.How Bridges Work Bridges separate traffic by examining the Media Access Control (MAC) addressescontained in the data packets. MAC addresses uniquely identify each machineattached to a network segment. A data packet is not forwarded to anothersegment if its destination MAC address resides on the same segment as its source.To efficiently separate traffic, the bridge maintains a Bridge Forwarding Table. Thistable contains a list of MAC addresses and their associated network segments. Thetable is built dynamically from the source MAC addresses of data packets passingthrough the bridge.The OfficeConnect Gateway bridge function supports the Spanning Tree Protocol(STP). This feature is used when two networks are joined by two bridges to form alooped network. STP prevents the data packets from circling the two networks.Additionally, the Bridge Firewall function of the OfficeConnect Gateway lets youconfigure the unit to support simultaneous bridging and routing. For moreinformation on the Bridge Firewall function, see the Simultaneous Bridging andRouting section of this chapter.Organization of thisChapterThe information in this chapter is organized into the following sections: Configure Bridging for the LAN and WAN Bridging IP Traffic Advanced Bridging Options MAC-Encapsulated Routing Simultaneous Bridging and Routing