clear ciscodp Link Layer Discovery Protocol and LLDP-MED
Enterasys Matrix DFE-Gold Series Configuration Guide 3-15

Link Layer Discovery Protocol and LLDP-MED

TheIEEE802.1ABstandard,commonlyreferredtoastheLinkLayerDiscoveryProtocol(LLDP),
isdescribedin“IEEE802.1AB2005Edition,IEEEStandardforLocalandMetropolitanNetworks:
StationandMediaAccessControlConnectivityDiscovery,May2005.”
LLDPMEDisdescribedintheANSITIAStandardsdocument“TIA10572006,LinkLayer
DiscoveryProtocolforMediaEndpointDevices.”
LLDPissimilartotheEnterasysDiscoveryProtocolandtheCiscoDiscoveryProtocolinthatit
providesanindustrystandard,vendorneutralwaytoallownetworkdevicestoadvertisetheir
identitiesandcapabilitiesonalocalareanetwork,andtodiscoverthatinformationabouttheir
neighbors.
LLDPoperatesonphysicalports.LLDPisnotsupportedonLAGports.
LLDPMEDisanenhancementtoLLDPthatprovidesthefollowingbenefits:
•AutodiscoveryofLANpolicies,suchasVLANid,802.1ppriority,andDiffServcodepoint
settings,leadingto“plugandplay”networking
•Devicelocationandtopologydiscovery,allowingcreationoflocationdatabasesand,inthe
caseofVoIP,provisionofE911services
•ExtendedandautomatedpowermanagementofPoweroverEthernetendpoints
•Inventorymanagement,allowingnetworkadministratorstotracktheirnetworkdevicesand
todeterminetheircharacteristics,suchasmanufacturer,softwareandhardwareversions,and
serialorassetnumbers
TheinformationsentbyanLLDPenableddeviceisextractedandtabulatedbyitspeers.The
communicationcanbedonewheninformationchangesoronaperiodicbasis.Theinformation
tabulatedisagedtoensurethatitiskeptuptodate.Portscanbeconfiguredtosendthis
information,receivethisinformation,orbothsendandreceive.
EitherLLDPorLLDPMED,butnotboth,canbeusedonaninterfacebetweentwodevices.A
switchportusesLLDPMEDwhenitdetectsthatanLLDPMEDcapabledeviceisconnectedtoit.

LLDP Frames

LLDPinformationiscontainedwithinaLinkLayerDiscoveryProtocolDataUnit(LLDPDU)sent
inasingle802.3Ethernetframe.TheinformationfieldsinLLDPDUareasequenceofshort,
variablelength,informationelementsknownasTLVstype,length,andvaluefieldswhere:
•Typeidentifieswhatkindofinformationisbeingsent
•Lengthindicatesthelengthoftheinformationstringinoctets
•Valueistheactualinformationthatneedstobesent
ThestandardspecifiesthatcertainTLVsaremandatoryintransmittedLLDPDUs,whileothersare
optional.YoucanconfigureonaportspecificbasiswhichoptionalLLDPandLLDPMEDTLVs
shouldbesentinLLDPDUs.

Configuration Tasks

Thecommandsincludedinthisimplementationallowyoutoperformthefollowingconfiguration
tasks: