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Technology overview
Ethernet
General
Ethernet framing
Common topologies
Virtual LANs
VLANs in VLANs
Layer 2 QoS
Congestion avoidance
RSTP
Port aggregation
Performances
IP
General
Ethernet
General
LAN protocol (high-speed data network covering a
small, geographic area)
Supports 10/100/1000 Mbps speeds
Layer 2 of the OSI (data link layer):
o It splits data into frames for sending on the
physical layer
o It performs error checking and retransmits frames
if an error is detected
Ethernet
Ethernet framing
Frame sizes are from 64 to 1518 bytes
Frame structure is:
Source MAC
address
(6 bytes)
Destination
MAC address
(6 bytes)
Header
Type
(2 bytes)
Information field
(46-1500 bytes)
Payload
Frame Check
Sequence
(4 bytes)
CRC
Ethernet
Common topologies
Point to Point (to connect 2 remote LANs)
Long distance
capable physical
connection type
Any physical
connection type
Ethernet
Virtual LANs
Frames are forwarded by Ethernet switches based on
destination MAC address AND VLAN Id (i.e. 1 to 4095)
Frame sizes are from 64 to 1522 bytes
Source
address
(6 bytes)
Destination
address
(6 bytes)
Type
(2 bytes)
VLAN
(4 bytes)
Header
Information field
(42-1500 bytes)
Frame Check
Sequence
(4 bytes)
Payload
CRC
2
3 Branch office
VLAN 1:
Administration
2
Headquarter
Servers
VLAN 2:
Sales
VLAN 3:
Engineering
Ethernet
VLANs in VLANs
Frames are forwarded by Ethernet switches based on
destination MAC address AND 2 VLAN Ids
Frame sizes are from 64 to 1526 bytes
Source
address
(6 bytes)
Destination
address
(6 bytes)
Type
(2 bytes)
First
VLAN
(4 bytes)
Second
VLAN
(4 bytes)
Header
Information field
(38-1500 bytes)
Frame Check
Sequence
(4 bytes)
Payload
CRC
First VLAN 2:
Customer 2
Ethernet
Layer 2 QoS
Applicable in case of congestion
Ingress
Egress
1 Gbps
100 Mbps
Ethernet
Congestion avoidance
Applicable in case of bottleneck
Ingress
1 Gbps
Egress
100 Mbps
Ethernet
Rapid STP
Prevents switching loops
Used to support link redundancy
In the example below link A is first disabled by the
protocol to prevent traffic to be looped forever ; in the
case one link fails, say link B, link A is re-enabled to
ensure all devices keep communicating together
Link A
Link A
Link B
Link C
Link D
Link B
Link C
Link D
Ethernet
Port aggregation
Creates a virtual port from multiple physical ports to
increase capacity
2 x 1000 Mbps
Ethernet
Performances
Switching is performed at a hardware level
Maximum throughputs with 64 bytes packets
o 14,880 pps at 10 Mbps
o 148,800 pps at 100 Mbps
o 1,488,000 pps at 1000 Mbps
Low latencies
Maximum number of MAC addresses learnt limited
IP
General
Layer 3 of the OSI (network link layer):
Destination
address
(6 bytes)
Ethernet
Header
Type
(2
bytes)
IP information
(20 bytes)
Information
field
(66-1480
bytes)
Frame Check
Sequence
(4 bytes)
IP
Header
Payload
CRC