Switch Behavior with Broadcast Frames
Switches handle broadcast and multicast frames differently from the way they handle unicast frames. Because broadcast and multicast frames may be of interest to all stations, the switch or bridge normally floods broadcast and multicast frames to all ports except the originating port. A switch or bridge never learns a broadcast or multicast address because broadcast and multicast addresses never appear as the source address of a frame. This flooding of broadcast and multicast frames can cause a problem in a redundant switched topology. Figure 2-17 shows how a broadcast frame from PC D would be flooded out all ports on the switch.
Figure 2-17 Broadcast Flooding
MAC Address Table
MAC Address Table
Figure 2-17 Broadcast Flooding
- 0260.8c01.2222 0260.8c01.4444
Continue reading here: Example Broadcast Storms
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