Cisco Systems 3750E manual Configuring Layer 2 Protocol Tunneling, 17-10

Chapter 17 Configuring IEEE 802.1Q and Layer 2 Protocol Tunneling

Configuring Layer 2 Protocol Tunneling

For example, in Figure 17-6, Customer A has two switches in the same VLAN that are connected through the SP network. When the network tunnels PDUs, switches on the far ends of the network can negotiate the automatic creation of EtherChannels without needing dedicated lines. See the “Configuring Layer 2 Tunneling for EtherChannels” section on page 17-14for instructions.

Figure 17-6 Layer 2 Protocol Tunneling for EtherChannels

EtherChannel 1			Service
			Provider
Customer A	VLAN 17				VLAN 17
Site 1	VLAN 18	Switch A		Switch C	VLAN 18
	VLAN 19				VLAN 19
	VLAN 20	Switch B			VLAN 20
				Switch D

EtherChannel 1

Customer A

Site 2

101844

Trunk

Asymmetric link

Configuring Layer 2 Protocol Tunneling

You can enable Layer 2 protocol tunneling (by protocol) on the ports that are connected to the customer in the edge switches of the service-provider network. The service-provider edge switches connected to the customer switch perform the tunneling process. Edge-switch tunnel ports are connected to customer IEEE 802.1Q trunk ports. Edge-switch access ports are connected to customer access ports. The edge switches connected to the customer switch perform the tunneling process.

You can enable Layer 2 protocol tunneling on ports that are configured as access ports or tunnel ports. You cannot enable Layer 2 protocol tunneling on ports configured in either switchport mode dynamic auto (the default mode) or switchport mode dynamic desirable.

The switch supports Layer 2 protocol tunneling for CDP, STP, and VTP. For emulated point-to-point network topologies, it also supports PAgP, LACP, and UDLD protocols. The switch does not support Layer 2 protocol tunneling for LLDP.

Caution PAgP, LACP, and UDLD protocol tunneling is only intended to emulate a point-to-point topology. An erroneous configuration that sends tunneled packets to many ports could lead to a network failure.

When the Layer 2 PDUs that entered the service-provider inbound edge switch through a Layer 2 protocol-enabled port exit through the trunk port into the service-provider network, the switch overwrites the customer PDU-destination MAC address with a well-known Cisco proprietary multicast address (01-00-0c-cd-cd-d0). If IEEE 802.1Q tunneling is enabled, packets are also double-tagged; the outer tag is the customer metro tag, and the inner tag is the customer’s VLAN tag. The core switches ignore the inner tags and forward the packet to all trunk ports in the same metro VLAN. The edge switches on the outbound side restore the proper Layer 2 protocol and MAC address information and forward the packets to all tunnel or access ports in the same metro VLAN. Therefore, the Layer 2 PDUs remain intact and are delivered across the service-provider infrastructure to the other side of the customer network.

	Catalyst 3750-E and 3560-E Switch Software Configuration Guide
17-10	OL-9775-02