Networks and Networking AICT003-3-2 Local Area Network Technologies

Networks and Networking
AICT003-3-2
Local Area Network Technologies
Topics and Structure of the

lesson
Bridge
Hub
Switch
Router
Learning Outcomes
At the end of this lecture YOU should be
able to:
Describe the function of the following devices:
Repeater
Bridge
Router
Hub
Switch
Key Terms you must be able to

use:
If you have mastered this topic, you should
be able to use the following terms correctly
in your assignments and exams:
Signals
A signal may experience attenuation as
the distance it has to travel increases.
This is not acceptable when networks
reach distances covering several
kilometers.
The amount of attenuation that affect the
signals along this channels would
introduce very high data corruption rates.
5
Devices
In order to link multiple networks, devices
are required to determine where a
particular packet is headed.
These devices are responsible for careful
routing of packets such that it would not
end up in the wrong network.
Overview
hub
The most basic of these devices is the
repeater.
The function of the repeater is to simply
regenerate the signal which it receives
and retransmits a refreshed signal back
into the network towards the sink.
A repeater has no other function except for
its duty to increase the physical length of a
network.
8
Connecting Ethernet Segments

Repeater / Hub: Regenerates (strengthens) the signal and
copies the incoming bit-stream to all outputs
10 Mb/s
4 hubs max
100 Mb/s 2 hubs max
1 Gb/s
1 hub max
Bridge / Switch: Filters MAC addresses to isolate local traffic
Count starts over with switches
Router: Forwards packets based on (Layer 3) network
addresses rather than (Layer 2) MAC addresses
can link dissimilar LANs - ie LANs using different
physical/data link technologies
Traditional LAN Design: Hub &

Router
Originally all network devices on a local-area network (LAN) tapped
into a single physical (repeatered) or logical (hubbed) cable
The Ethernet LAN can be considered a collision domain, because all
packets are visible to all devices on the LAN and are free to collide,
given the CSMA/CD scheme used by Ethernet.
LANs were then

interconnected with
routers to overcome
distance limitations
Bridges & Switches

Bridges and Switches are used to control the size of collision domains
MAC Address
Port
08-00-07-06-41-B9
00-00-0C-60-7C-01
00-80-24-07-8C-02
The bridge learns the location of devices by

looking at the source address in each
frame, and develops a switching table
For subsequent frames, If the destination
address is in the table, the frame is
forwarded only to one port
If the destination address is not in the table the frame is sent to all
ports, except the port on which the frame was received
Multicast and Broadcast frames are also flooded to all ports
Thus all the bridged segments together form a single broadcast
domain, and each port of a bridge is a collision domain.
Bridge vs. Switch

A switch works exactly like a bridge, but is faster and more capable application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs) handle forwarding
Bridges
Switches
Software-based
Hardware-based (port-level ASICs)
Relatively slow
Comparatively fast
Typically up to 16 ports
Possibly hundreds of ports
Only forwards complete

frames
Can start sending a frame before it is

completely received (cut-through)
Only one forwarding path
Supports multiple, parallel forwarding paths
One spanning-tree per

bridge
Supports one spanning-tree per VLAN

(Well talk about this in Week 9)
Traditional LAN Design
Originally campus networks consisted of a single local-area network (LAN)

to which new users were added. This LAN was a logical or physical cable
into which the network devices tapped. The Ethernet LAN can be
considered a collision domain, because all packets are visible to all
devices on the LAN and are free to collide, given the CSMA/CD scheme
used by Ethernet.
When the collision domain of the LAN became congested, a bridge was
inserted. A LAN bridge is a store-and-forward packet switch. The bridge
segments the LAN into several collision domains, and therefore increases
the available network throughput per device.
Bridges flood broadcasts, multicasts, and unknown unicasts to all segments.
Therefore, all the bridged segments in the campus together form a single
broadcast domain.
Table 4-8. Maximum Size of a Broadcast

Domain
Protocol
Maximum Number of
Workstations
IP
500
NetWare
300
AppleTalk
200
NetBIOS
200
Mixed
200
If IP users are running multimedia

applications with high-bandwidth and
low-delay requirements, and/or a high
level of broadcast or multicast packets,
the maximum number of workstations
should be reduced to 200.
General rule:
Limit the size of
broadcast domains to
under 200 workstations
(or other devices like IP
phones)
Bridging
In theory, the amount of broadcast traffic sets a practical limit to the size
of the broadcast domain. In practice, managing and troubleshooting a
bridged campus becomes increasingly difficult as the number of users
increases. One misconfigured or malfunctioning workstation can disable
an entire broadcast domain for an extended period of time.
When designing a bridged campus, each bridged segment corresponds
to a workgroup. The workgroup server is placed in the same segment as
the clients, allowing most of the traffic to be contained. This design
principle is referred to as the 80/20 rule and refers to the goal of keeping
at least 80 percent of the traffic contained within the local segment.
Layer 2 Switching
Layer 2 switching is hardware-based bridging. The frame forwarding is

handled by specialized hardware, usually application-specific integrated
circuits (ASICs). Layer 2 switches are replacing hubs at the wiring closet in
campus network designs because the performance advantage is dramatic.
The high performance of Layer 2 switching has led to some network designs
that increase the number of hosts per subnet, which means a flatter design
with fewer subnets or logical networks in the campus.
However, broadcast domains built with Layer 2 switches still experience the
same scaling and performance issues as large bridged networks.
Layer 3 Routing
A router is a packet switch that is used to provide connectivity between
broadcast domains. Routers forward packets based on network addresses
rather than Media Access Control (MAC) addresses. These internets are
more scalable than flat bridged networks, because routers summarize
reachability by network number.
Routing protocols offer:
Load balancing across many equal-cost paths (in the Cisco
implementation)
Optimal or lowest-cost paths between networks
Fast convergence when changes occur
Summarized (and therefore scalable) reachability information
(more details coming soon)
Layer 2 and Layer 3 Switching

Switching is the process of taking an incoming frame
from one interface and delivering it out through
another interface.
Routers use Layer 3 switching to route a packet
Switches use Layer 2 switching to forward frames.
The difference between Layer 2 and Layer 3 switching

is the type of information inside the frame that is used
to determine the correct output interface.
With Layer 2 switching, frames are switched based on
MAC address information.
With Layer 3 switching, frames are switched based on
network-layer information.
Switch
By scanning the address of a network packet, a
switch can route the packet directly towards the
destination, thereby it reduces collisions on the
Ethernet.
The other advantage is that each packet does not
use up the entire capacity of the Ethernet. This
would, then, allow for simultaneous packet
transmissions.
In this sense, a switch would function better than a
hub in Ethernet networks.
19
Transparent Bridging (Switching)

An end system sends a frame to a destination without knowing
whether the destination is local or on the other side of a
transparent bridge
The bridge learns the location of devices by looking at the source
address in each frame, and develops a switching table
MAC Address
Port
08-00-07-06-41-B9
00-00-0C-60-7C-01
1
2
00-80-24-07-8C-02
Transparent Bridging (Switching)

If the destination address is in the table, the frame is forwarded to
the port
If the destination address is not in the table the frame is sent to all
ports (except the port on which the frame was received)
Multicast and Broadcast frames are also flooded to all ports
First. Imagine two switches that are not connected to each other in any way. Switch A
connects stations in Network A and Switch B connects stations in Network B,
When Station A1 sends a broadcast, Station A2 and Station A3 receive the broadcast,
but none of the stations in Network B receive the broadcast, because the two
switches are not connected.
Virtual LANs (VLANs)

An emulation of a standard LAN that allows data transfer to take
place without the traditional physical restraints placed on a network
A set of devices that belong to an administrative group
VLANs can be configured on a single switch or across multiple
switches
Designers use VLANs to constrain broadcast traffic
a misconfigured or malfunctioning workstation can introduce errors that
will impact or disable the entire domain. A jabbering network interface
card (NIC) may flood the entire domain with broadcasts. A workstation
with the wrong IP address can become a black hole for packets.
Problems of this nature are difficult to localize.
VLANs versus Real LANs

LAN A
Station A1
Station A2
LAN B
Station A3
Station B1
Station B2
Switch A
Station A4
Station B3
Switch B
Station A5
LAN A
Station A6
Station B4
Station B5
LAN B
Station B6
VLANs versus Real LANs

VLAN A
Station A1
Station A2
VLAN A
Station A3
Station A4
Station A5
Switch A
Station B1
Station A6
Switch B
Station B2
VLAN B
Station B3
Station B4
Station B5
VLAN B
Station B6
Both switches contain stations that are members of VLAN A

and VLAN B.
Problem: what to do with the forwarding of broadcast,
multicast, or unknown-destination frames from a member
of a VLAN on one switch to the members of the same VLAN
on the other switch?
VLAN A
VLAN A
Station A1 Station A2 Station A3
Switch A
Station B1
Switch B
Station B2 Station B3
VLAN B
Station B4
VLAN B
All frames going from Switch A to Switch B take the same

interconnection path (called a trunk link or simply a
trunk)
As a frame leaves Switch A, a special header is added to the
frame, called the VLAN tag. The VLAN tag contains a
VLAN identifier (ID) that specifies to which VLAN the frame
belongs.
VLAN A
VLAN A
Switch A
Station B1
Switch B
VLAN B
Station B4
VLAN B
What is IOS?
Internetwork Operating System
Operating System of all Cisco Devices
A derivative of BSD UNIX
Custom built by Cisco for each platform
Pre-packaged and static. Complete IOS is upgraded.
Features available in different versions (for a price!)
GUIs available, but 90%+ of users still prefer commandline configuration.
IOS is designed to be hardware independent.
Switch Overview
Switches contain CPU, RAM,
Operating System
POST
When switched on System LED
indicates status
Color System Status
Off System is not powered on.
Green System is operating normally.
Amber System is receiving power but
is not functioning properly.
Status LED Overview

Mode button toggles
between different port
modes
Port mode displayed on
Port Mode LEDs
Individual Port status
above each port
Port Status 1
Port Status 2
User Mode Commands
Default Configuration
When powered up without configuration,
the default name is Switch.
No passwords have been configured.
All switch ports are part of VLAN 1
Switch has no IP address
Show version shows the IOS version and
the configuration register.
Actual Configuration
First,
Remove any VLAN info (delete flash: vlan.dat)
Erase startup
Reload
Follow router configuration method to configure
hostname, line passwords, set a default gateway, etc.
Set IP address for management VLAN1 for telnet
access.
Fast Ethernet ports default to auto-speed and autoduplex, or they can be set manually.
Management of a switch can also be done using a GUI
interface as long as HTTP service is turned on.
Switch Configuration 1
Erase any existing settings
VLAN database
Configuration in NVRAM
Reload the switch
Switch Management
Connect to switch via console connection
Give switch IP address on management VLAN 1
Switch(config)#interface vlan 1
Switch(config-if)#ip address 192.168.1.2 255.255.255.0
Use web-browser based management

Switch(config)#ip http server
Defining port speed / duplex

Speed:
Interface config mode:
speed [10 | 100 | auto]
Line mode is either full duplex or half duplex.

Interface config mode:
duplex [auto | full | half]

auto option only for fixed Fast Ethernet TX
ports.
VLAN Configuration
Entering VLAN Database
Switch#vlan database
Switch(vlan)#
Adding VLANs
Switch(vlan)#vlan 15 name
Accounting
Deleting VLAN database
Switch#delete flash:vlan.dat
Assigning ports to a VLAN
Switch(config)#interface
FastEthernet 0/12
Switch(config-if)#switchport access
vlan 15
Verify VLAN Configuration
Switch#show vlan
Summary
Repeater
Bridge
Hub
Switch
Router
Question and Answer Session
Q&A

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Networks and Networking

Topics and Structure of the

Key Terms you must be able to

Connecting Ethernet Segments

Traditional LAN Design: Hub &

LANs were then

Bridges & Switches

The bridge learns the location of devices by

Bridge vs. Switch

Hardware-based (port-level ASICs)

Possibly hundreds of ports

Only forwards complete

Can start sending a frame before it is

Only one forwarding path

Supports multiple, parallel forwarding paths

One spanning-tree per

Supports one spanning-tree per VLAN

Traditional LAN Design

Originally campus networks consisted of a single local-area network (LAN)

Table 4-8. Maximum Size of a Broadcast

If IP users are running multimedia

Layer 2 switching is hardware-based bridging. The frame forwarding is

Layer 2 and Layer 3 Switching

The difference between Layer 2 and Layer 3 switching

Transparent Bridging (Switching)

Transparent Bridging (Switching)

Virtual LANs (VLANs)

VLANs versus Real LANs

VLANs versus Real LANs

Both switches contain stations that are members of VLAN A

Station A1 Station A2 Station A3

Station A4 Station A5 Station A6

All frames going from Switch A to Switch B take the same

Station A1 Station A2 Station A3

Station A4 Station A5 Station A6

Status LED Overview

User Mode Commands

Reload the switch

Use web-browser based management

Defining port speed / duplex

speed [10 | 100 | auto]

Line mode is either full duplex or half duplex.

duplex [auto | full | half]

Question and Answer Session

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