Virtual LAN (VLAN)

VLAN Trunking

ISL encapsulation

IEEE 802.1Q tagged frame

 A
Spanning Tree
B
B3
C

D
B5

B7 K
Extended LANs can have cycles
B2

E F because either they were built without

B1 global knowledge or for the sake of
G H
having redundant paths between LANs.
B6 B4
I
J

B
B3
C B5 In order to populate forwarding tables
B2
D B7 K so that packets don’t end up looping
E F
forever, first we have to remove cycles
B1
from the network graph and find a
G H
spanning tree.
B6 B4
I
J
 Spanning Tree Algorithm
A

C
B3
Question: How can you find a spanning
B5

B2
D B7 K
tree of a graph if you don’t know the full
E F graph?
B1
Bridges have ids, just as nodes do. When a
G H
bridge is started up, it exchanges
B6 B4 configuration messages with others and
I
J elects one bridge to be the root of the
spanning tree.
configuration message Initially every bridge thinks it’s the root and
sends out configuration messages on all its
(1) id of sender bridge ports.
(2) id of believed root
When it starts receiving messages from other
bridges, it checks to see if the new message
(3) distance in hops to root improves the configuration recorded for that
port.
 Spanning Tree Algorithm
A message is considered better than the
A
recorded info if:
B3
B it identifies a root with smaller id or
C B5 it identifies a root with equal id but
B2
D B7 K shorter distance or
E F
the root id and distance are equal, but
B1
the sending bridge has smaller id.
G H
Before updating the info with the
I
B6 B4
received message, the bridge adds 1 to
J
the hop count.
When a bridge discovers it is not the root,
it stops sending out messages of its own
(only forwards those from other bridges
after adding 1 to the hop count).
 Spanning Tree Algorithm
A

B
B3
C B5

D B7
B2 K

E F

B1

G H

B6 B4
I
J

When a bridge discovers it’s not the designated bridge for that port,
it stops sending configuration messages over that port.
Eventually, the system stabilizes: only the root sends out
configuration messages and the other bridges only forward them
around.
 Token Ring (IEEE 802.5)

 Ethernet and the similar protocols are

contention-based protocol

 Token ring, token bus are examples of

contention-free protocol
 Properties
• The ring is a single, shared medium, not
point to point links in a loop.
• All nodes see all frames.
• A distributed algorithm determines
when a node can transmit.
• Data always flows in one direction.

Basic idea: A token circulates around the ring. When a host has a
frame to transmit, it seizes the token and injects the frame on the
medium. The frame is forwarded by intermediate nodes until
arriving at the destination. The destination puts the frame back
after receiving it, but with a “special mark”. The frame circulates
back to the sender.
 Physical Properties
Question: What happens if a node on the ring fails?
Host Host

Host Host As long as a node provides power

to the relay, the relay stays open.
From previous To next From previous To next
host host host host When the node fails, the relay
Relay Relay
closes bypassing the node.
(a) (b)

Host
Multi-Station Access Unit: Several relays packaged
MSAU
together. Multiple MSAUs can be plugged together
Host Host to make a larger network.

From previous
Typical token ring data rates go from 4 Mbps
MSAU

To next
to 16 Mbps. Number of stations can be as
MSAU
Host high as 260.
 Token Ring Frame Format
(IEEE 802.5)

8 8 8 48 48 Variable 32 8 8
Start Access Frame Dest Src Body Checksum End Frame
delimiter control control addr addr delimiter status
 Switches
 Connected to a set of links: each one runs a data-link
(layer 2) protocol.
 Primary job: receive incoming frames/packets from
one link and output them to the appropriate link.
 Each input or output is a port (bidirectional).

Question: How does a switch decide what output port to use?

Alternatives:
 Datagrams, or Connection-less approach

 Virtual circuit, or Connection-oriented approach

 Source routing.
 Datagrams
Destinati Port
Host D

on 0 Host E
Sw itch 1 Host F
3 1

A 3
Host C 2 Sw itch 2
2 3 1

B 0 Host A
0

C 3
D 3 Host G
1
0 Sw itch 3 Host B
3

E 2 2

F 1 Host H

G 0 Connectionless: Each datagram is

H 0 forwarded on its own.
forwarding table for switch 2
 Connectionless Networks

 A host can send a packet anywhere, anytime.

 When a packet is sent, it is not known
whether the network can deliver it.
 Each packet is forwarded independently of
other packets that may have gone to the
same destination.
 A switch or link failure is no big deal: an
alternate route can be found and the
forwarding table updated.
 Virtual Circuit Switching
0
3 1
Establish a connection 3
0
1 3
0
1 2

between source and 2

Sw itch 1
2
Sw itch 2

destination before any

data is communicated. 0
Sw itch 3
3 1
Host A
Host B
2

Two part process: Virtual Circuit Table:

(1) Connection setup
(2) Data transfer
• virtual circuit identifier
• incoming interface
• outgoing interface
• [a different VCI for outgoing packets]
 Simple internetwork (example)
Netw ork 1 (Ethernet)

H7 R3 H8
H1 H2 H3

Netw ork 4
Netw ork 2 (Ethernet) (point-to-point)
R1

R2

H4
Netw ork 3 (FDDI)

H5 H6
 Service model
H1 H8

TCP R1 R2 R3 TCP

IP IP IP IP IP

ETH ETH FDDI FDDI PPP PPP ETH ETH

Host-to-host service

Philosophy: Define a model that is so undemanding that almost any

network technology is able to provide the required service. (IP)