Introduction 21MAC Address Supported FeaturesMAC Address Capacity SupportThe device supports up to eight thousand MAC addresses. The device reserves specific MACaddresses for system use.Self-Learning MAC AddressesThe device enables automatic MAC address learning from incoming packets. The MAC addressesare stored in the Bridging Table.Automatic Aging for MAC AddressesMAC addresses from which no traffic is received for a given period are aged out. This prevents theBridging Table from overflowing.For more information on configuring the MAC Address Age Out Time, see "Configuring AddressTables".Static MAC EntriesUser defined static MAC entries are stored in the Bridging Table.For more information, see "Configuring Address Tables".VLAN-aware MAC-based SwitchingPackets arriving from an unknown source address are sent to the microprocessor, where the sourceaddresses are added to the Hardware Table. Packets addressed to or from this address are moreefficiently forwarded using the Hardware Table.MAC Multicast SupportMulticast service is a limited broadcast service, which allows one-to-many and many-to-manyconnections for information distribution. Layer 2 Multicast service is where a single frame isaddressed to a specific Multicast address, from where copies of the frame are transmitted to therelevant ports.For more information, see "Multicast Forwarding Support".Layer 2 FeaturesIGMP SnoopingInternet Group Membership Protocol (IGMP) Snooping examines IGMP frame contents, whenthey are forwarded by the device from work stations to an upstream Multicast router. From theframe, the device identifies work stations configured for Multicast sessions, and which Multicastrouters are sending Multicast frames.For more information, see "IGMP Snooping".
