Cabletron Systems 9E312 An Overview of Remote Bridge Management, More on Transparent Bridging

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9E312/9E423 Module Bridging

In Source Route bridging, the source node sends “explorer” packets to a destination node that pass through a bridged network. Each bridge that sees the explorer packet will append Routing Information (in the form of LAN segment numbers) to it. When the destination node receives these explorer packets, it will return a response to the source node that contains the route information field indicating which bridge paths the explorer packets took. In future communication between the two nodes, the original source node will append the best route to the destination node in a Routing Information Field (RIF) of its data frames, so that a bridge on the network will simply have to examine the RIF to verify whether it is a part of the route process.

More on Transparent Bridging

Transparent bridges are most common in Ethernet networks. Individual Transparent bridges monitor packet traffic on attached network segments to learn their network segment location in terms of which bridge port receives packets originated from a particular station (determined via the packet’s Source Address field). This information gets stored in the bridge’s Filtering Database. When in the Forwarding state, the bridge compares a packet’s destination address to the information in the Filtering Database to determine if the packet should be forwarded to another network segment or filtered (i.e., not forwarded). A bridge filters a packet if it determines that the packet’s destination address exists on the same side of the bridge as the source address.

Transparent bridges in a network communicate with one another by exchanging Bridge Protocol Data Units, or BPDUs, and collectively implement a Spanning Tree Algorithm (STA) to determine the network topology, to ensure that only a single data route exists between any two end stations, and to ensure that the topology information remains current.

An Overview of Remote Bridge Management

With SPECTRUM Element Manager, you can view and manage bridging across the 9E312/9E423 Module — and at each bridging interface — by using the following windows:

•The Bridge Status window provides you with basic information about the current status of the 9E312/9E423 Module’s bridging interfaces, and allows you to enable or disable bridging at each interface of the switch. The Bridge Status window also lets you access further windows to configure bridging at the 9E312/9E423 Module.

•The Performance Graph and Interface Statistics windows graphically display the traffic passing between bridged networks, and let you compare and contrast traffic processed by each interface.

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An Overview of Remote Bridge Management

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Contents Page Virus Disclaimer Page Restricted Rights Notice Page Contents 9E312/9E423 Module Bridging IndexIntroduction Introduction Using the 9E312 and 9E423 User’s GuideRelated Manuals Common 9E312 and 9E423 Window Fields Software ConventionsUsing Buttons and Menus Getting Help Using On-line HelpGetting Help from Cabletron Systems Technical Support FTP 9E312 and 9E423 FirmwareIntroduction 9E312 and 9E423 Firmware 9E312/9E423 Module View 9E312/9E423 Module View Viewing Module InformationConnection Status Front Panel InformationMenu Structure Device Menu E312/9E423 Module View Menu StructureHelp Menu Utilities MenuBridge Menu Bridge Port Menu 9E312/9E423 Module Port Status DisplayChassis Manager Window Managing the Module Setting the Device Date and TimeViewing the Device Type Edit Time Window Enabling and Disabling Bridge Ports Using the Find Source Address FeatureFind Source Address Window Summary InformationIndex Interface Description FieldsType DescriptionRaw Counts Interface Performance Statistics/Bar GraphsLoad Interface Detail WindowRate Unicast Interface Detail Window StatisticsMulticast ErrorDiscarded Unknown ProtocolPackets Received Testing and Disabling the Current InterfacePackets Transmitted Making Sense of Interface StatisticsUsing the Applications Pull-down menu 9E312/9E423 Module View Summary Information Bridging Basics 9E312/9E423 Module BridgingMore on Transparent Bridging An Overview of Remote Bridge ManagementBridge Status Window Bridge State on Interface Bridge Status Window Information FieldsInterface Address Interface TypeInterface Speed Bridge Statistics Enabling and Disabling BridgingPerformance Graphs Bridge Performance Graph Window Fields Errors RedFrames Forwarded Green Filtered MagentaConfiguring the Bridge Performance Graphs Interface Statistics WindowAddress Interface Statistics Window FieldsNon-Unicast Bridge Spanning Tree9E312/9E423 Module Bridging Bridge Level Fields Configuring the Bridge Spanning Tree WindowBridge Priority Root Cost Root BridgeRoot Port ProtocolBridge Port Level Fields Designated Cost Path CostDesignated Root Designated BridgeChanging Bridge Priority Changing Bridge Spanning Tree ParametersChanging the Spanning Tree Algorithm Protocol Type Changing Hello Time Changing Forwarding Delay TimeChanging Max Age Time Changing Port Priority Filtering DatabaseChanging Path Cost 9E312/9E423 Module Bridging Filtering Database Window List Filtering Database Window FieldsNumber CapacitySource Port Configuring the Filtering DatabaseReceive Port Port FilteringChanging the Type of Entry Altering the Ageing TimeChanging the Receive Port Adding or Deleting Individual Entries Changing the Port Filtering ActionClearing All Permanent, Static, or Dynamic Entries Using Port Source AddressingDevice Ageing Time Window Setting the Ageing TimeDuplex Modes Window Duplex ModesInterface Duplex Modes Window FieldsFull Duplex Setting the Duplex Mode Index Index-2
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