Cisco Systems 3750E manual Private VLANs and Unicast, Broadcast, and Multicast Traffic, 16-5

Chapter 16 Configuring Private VLANs

Understanding Private VLANs

You should also see the “Secondary and Primary VLAN Configuration” section on page 16-7under the “Private-VLAN Configuration Guidelines” section.

Private VLANs and Unicast, Broadcast, and Multicast Traffic

In regular VLANs, devices in the same VLAN can communicate with each other at the Layer 2 level, but devices connected to interfaces in different VLANs must communicate at the Layer 3 level. In private VLANs, the promiscuous ports are members of the primary VLAN, while the host ports belong to secondary VLANs. Because the secondary VLAN is associated to the primary VLAN, members of the these VLANs can communicate with each other at the Layer 2 level.

In a regular VLAN, broadcasts are forwarded to all ports in that VLAN. Private VLAN broadcast forwarding depends on the port sending the broadcast:

•An isolated port sends a broadcast only to the promiscuous ports or trunk ports.

•A community port sends a broadcast to all promiscuous ports, trunk ports, and ports in the same community VLAN.

•A promiscuous port sends a broadcast to all ports in the private VLAN (other promiscuous ports, trunk ports, isolated ports, and community ports).

Multicast traffic is routed or bridged across private-VLAN boundaries and within a single community VLAN. Multicast traffic is not forwarded between ports in the same isolated VLAN or between ports in different secondary VLANs.

Private VLANs and SVIs

In a Layer 3 switch, a switch virtual interface (SVI) represents the Layer 3 interface of a VLAN. Layer 3 devices communicate with a private VLAN only through the primary VLAN and not through secondary VLANs. Configure Layer 3 VLAN interfaces (SVIs) only for primary VLANs. You cannot configure Layer 3 VLAN interfaces for secondary VLANs. SVIs for secondary VLANs are inactive while the VLAN is configured as a secondary VLAN.

•If you try to configure a VLAN with an active SVI as a secondary VLAN, the configuration is not allowed until you disable the SVI.

•If you try to create an SVI on a VLAN that is configured as a secondary VLAN and the secondary VLAN is already mapped at Layer 3, the SVI is not created, and an error is returned. If the SVI is not mapped at Layer 3, the SVI is created, but it is automatically shut down.

When the primary VLAN is associated with and mapped to the secondary VLAN, any configuration on the primary VLAN is propagated to the secondary VLAN SVIs. For example, if you assign an IP subnet to the primary VLAN SVI, this subnet is the IP subnet address of the entire private VLAN.

Catalyst 3750-E and 3560-E Switch Software Configuration Guide

OL-9775-02 16-5