Thisfigure shows the tag structures of the double-tagged packets.
Figure 10: Original (Normal), IEEE 802.1Q, and Double-Tagged Ethernet Packet Formats
Whenthe packet enters the trunk port of the service-provider egress switch, the outer tag is again stripped as
theswitch internally processes the packet. However, the metro tag is not added when the packet is sent out
thetunnel port on theedge switch into the customer network. The packet is sent as a normal IEEE
802.1Q-taggedframe to preserve the original VLAN numbers in the customer network.
Inthe above networkfigure, Customer A was assignedVLAN 30, and Customer B wasassigned VLAN 40.
Packetsentering the edge switch tunnel ports with IEEE 802.1Q tags are double-tagged when they enter the
service-providernetwork, with the outer tag containing VLAN ID 30 or 40, appropriately, and the inner tag
containingthe original VLAN number, for example, VLAN 100. Even if both Customers A and B have VLAN
100in theirnetworks, the traffic remains segregated within the service-provider network because the outer
tagis different. Each customer controls its own VLAN numbering space, which is independent of the VLAN
numberingspace used by othercustomers and theVLAN numbering space used bythe service-provider
network.
Atthe outbound tunnel port, the original VLAN numbers on thecustomers network are recovered.It is
possibleto have multiple levels of tunneling and tagging, but the switch supports only one level in this release.
Iftraffic coming from a customer network is not tagged (native VLAN frames), these packets are bridged or
routedas normal packets. All packets entering the service-provider network through a tunnel port on an edge
switchare treated as untagged packets, whether they are untagged or already tagged with IEEE 802.1Q headers.
Thepackets are encapsulated with the metro tag VLAN ID (set to the access VLAN of the tunnel port) when
theyare sent through the service-provider network on an IEEE 802.1Q trunk port. The priority field on the
metrotag is set tothe interface class of service (CoS) priority configured on thetunnel port. (Thedefault is
zeroif none isconfigured.)
Onswitches, because 802.1Q tunneling is configured on a per-port basis, it does not matter whether the switch
isa standaloneswitch or a stack member. All configuration is done on the stack master.
Related Topics
Configuringan IEEE 802.1Q TunnelingPort, on page 133
Catalyst 2960-XR Switch VLAN Configuration Guide, Cisco IOS Release 15.0(2)EX1
126 OL-29440-01
Configuring IEEE 802.1Q and Layer 2 Protocol Tunneling
IEEE 802.1Q Tunneling