LevelOne GSW-2600TXM 3.6.4.Configuring Virtual LANs

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Fast

Forwarding*

Enabled This parameter is used to enable / disabled the Fast Spanning

Tree mode for the selected port. In this mode, ports skip the

Blocked, Listening and Learning states and proceed straight to

Forwarding.

* Since end-nodes cannot cause forwarding loops, they can pass through the Spanning

Tree state changes more quickly than allowed by standard convergence time. Fast

Forwarding can achieve quicker convergence for end-node workstations and servers,

and also overcome other STA related timeout problems. (Remember that Fast

Forwarding should only be enabled for ports connected to an end-node device.)

3.6.4.Configuring Virtual LANs

You can use the VLAN configuration menu to assign any port on the switch to any of up

to 256 LAN groups. In conventional networks with routers, broadcast traffic is split up

into separate domains. Switches do not inherently support broadcast domains. This can

lead to broadcast storms in large networks that handle traffic such as IPX or NetBEUI.

By using IEEE 802.1Q compliant VLANs, you can organize any group of network nodes

into separate broadcast domains, thus confining broadcast traffic to the originating

group. This also provides a more secure and cleaner network environment. For more

information on how to use VLANs, see “Virtual LANs” on chapter 4. The VLAN

configuration screens are described in the following sections.

You can use the VLAN Port Configuration screen to configure GARP, the default VLAN

identifier, default port priority, VLAN tagging on outgoing frames, GVRP and GMRP

status, and filtering for incoming frames for VLAN groups this port does not belong to.