8

VLAN

This chapter shows you how to configure IEEE 802.1Q tagged VLANs.

8.1 Introduction to IEEE 802.1Q Tagged VLANs

A tagged VLAN uses an explicit tag (VLAN ID) in the MAC header to identify the VLAN membership of a frame across bridges - they are not confined to the switch on which they were created. The VLANs can be created statically by hand or dynamically through GVRP. The VLAN ID associates a frame with a specific VLAN and provides the information that switches need to process the frame across the network. A tagged frame is four bytes longer than an untagged frame and contains two bytes of TPID (Tag Protocol Identifier, residing within the type/length field of the Ethernet frame) and two bytes of TCI (Tag Control Information, starts after the source address field of the Ethernet frame).

The CFI (Canonical Format Indicator) is a single-bit flag, always set to zero for Ethernet switches. If a frame received at an Ethernet port has a CFI set to 1, then that frame should not be forwarded as it is to an untagged port. The remaining twelve bits define the VLAN ID, giving a possible maximum number of 4,096 VLANs. Note that user priority and VLAN ID are independent of each other. A frame with VID (VLAN Identifier) of null (0) is called a priority frame, meaning that only the priority level is significant and the default VID of the ingress port is given as the VID of the frame. Of the 4096 possible VIDs, a VID of 0 is used to identify priority frames and value 4095 (FFF) is reserved, so the maximum possible VLAN configurations are 4,094.

TPID

User Priority

CFI

VLAN ID

2 Bytes

3 Bits

1 Bit

12 bits

 

 

 

 

8.1.1 Forwarding Tagged and Untagged Frames

Each port on the switch is capable of passing tagged or untagged frames. To forward a frame from an 802.1Q VLAN-aware switch to an 802.1Q VLAN-unaware switch, the switch first decides where to forward the frame and then strips off the VLAN tag. To forward a frame from an 802.1Q VLAN-unaware switch to an 802.1Q VLAN-aware switch, the switch first decides where to forward the frame, and then inserts a VLAN tag reflecting the ingress port's default VID. The default PVID is VLAN 1 for all ports, but this can be changed.

A broadcast frame (or a multicast frame for a multicast group that is known by the system) is duplicated only on ports that are members of the VID (except the ingress port itself), thus confining the broadcast to a specific domain.

 

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ES-1552 User’s Guide