When attached to a subnetwork, the Bridge Module dynamically learnsthe addresses of the nodes on the subnetwork. The Bridge Module looks at the source address of each packet generated on the subnetwork and creates the dynamic filter table from these addresses.

When a packet is received by the Bridge Module, its destination address is compared to the addresses in the dynamic filter table. If the destination address is found in the dynamic filter table, the packet is determined to be local and the Bridge Module does not forward the packet to the other subnetwork. If the address is not in the dynamic filter table, the packet destination is assumed to be on a different subnetwork (or the destination node has not generated any traffic) and the bridge forwards the packet accordingly. (Use the SHOW FILTER DYNAMIC_ADDRESS_TABLE command to list all dynamic addresses known by each port.)

Static Address Filter Table

The SET, CLEAR, and SHOW commands allow you to establish, remove, and display permanent filtering attributes for specific nodes. TheSET command establishes a permanent entry in the static address filter table: an entry which is never “aged out." This can improve network performance by controlling the flow of packets based on your specific network topology and traffic patterns.

For example, the following command tells the Bridge Module to never forward packets to destination address 0800-8F00-0123 on port 2 from any node connected to port 1.

OEBM> set filter static_address_table never_forward_to_port2

0800-8f00-0123 [ENTER]

Management Functions 3 - 21

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3Com 5102B-EE installation and operation guide Static Address Filter Table