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Cisco ME 3400 Ethernet Access Switch Software Configuration Guide
OL-9639-06
Chapter 35 Configuring IP Unicast Routing
Configuring IP Addressing
To restore the default IP broadcast address, use the no ip broadcast-address interface configuration
command.
Flooding IP Broadcasts
You can allow IP broadcasts to be flooded throughout your internetwork in a controlled fashion by usi ng
the database created by the bridging STP. Using this feature also prevents loops. To support this
capability, bridging must be configured on each interface that is to participate in the flooding. If bridging
is not configured on an interface, it still can receive broadcasts. However, the interface never forwards
broadcasts it receives, and the router never uses that interface to send broadcasts received on a
different interface.
Packets that are forwarded to a single network address using the IP helper-address mechanism can be
flooded. Only one copy of the packet is sent on each network segment.
To be considered for flooding, packets must meet these criteria. (Note that these are the same conditions
used to consider packet forwarding using IP helper addresses.)
• The packet must be a MAC-level broadcast.
• The packet must be an IP-level broadcast.
• The packet must be a TFTP, DNS, Time, NetBIOS, ND, or BOOTP packet, or a UDP specified by
the ip forward-protocol udp global configuration command.
• The time-to-live (TTL) value of the packet must be at least two.
A flooded UDP datagram is given the destination address specified with the ip broadcast-address
interface configuration command on the output interface. The destination address can be set to any
address. Thus, the destination address might change as the datagram propagates through the network.
The source address is never changed. The TTL value is decremented.
When a flooded UDP datagram is sent out an interface (and the destination address possibly changed),
the datagram is handed to the normal IP output routines and is, therefore, subject to access lists, if they
are present on the output interface.
Beginning in privileged EXEC mode, follow these steps to use the bridging spanning-tree database to
flood UDP datagrams:
Step 4 ip broadcast-address ip-address Enter a broadcast address different from the default, for example
128.1.255.255.
Step 5 end Return to privileged EXEC mode.
Step 6 show ip interface [interface-id]Verify the broadcast address on the interface or all interfaces.
Step 7 copy running-config startup-config (Optional) Save your entries in the configuration file.
Command Purpose
Command Purpose
Step 1 configure terminal Enter global configuration mode.
Step 2 ip forward-protocol spanning-tree Use the bridging spanning-tree database to flood UDP datagrams.
Step 3 end Return to privileged EXEC mode.
Step 4 show running-config Verify your entry.
Step 5 copy running-config startup-config (Optional) Save your entry in the configuration file.