D-Link DES-3226SM Product Manual - Page 35

DES-3226S Layer 2 Fast Ethernet Switch User's Guide Figure 5 - 6. Adding an IEEE 802.1Q Tag Port VLAN ID Packets that are tagged (are carrying the 802.1Q VID information) can be transmitted from one 802.1Q compliant network device to another with the VLAN information intact. This allows 802.1Q VLANs to span network devices (and indeed, the entire network - if all network devices are 802.1Q compliant). Unfortunately, not all network devices are 802.1Q compliant. These devices are referred to as tag-unaware. 802.1Q devices are referred to as tag-aware. Prior to the adoption 802.1Q VLANs, port-based and MAC-based VLANs were in common use. These VLANs relied upon a Port VLAN ID (PVID) to forward packets. A packet received on a given port would be assigned that port's PVID and then be forwarded to the port that corresponded to the packet's destination address (found in the Switch's forwarding table). If the PVID of the port that received the packet is different from the PVID of the port that is to transmit the packet, the Switch will drop the packet. Within the Switch, different PVIDs mean different VLANs. (remember that two VLANs cannot communicate without an external router). So, VLAN identification based upon the PVIDs cannot create VLANs that extend outside a given Switch (or Switch stack). Every physical port on a Switch has a PVID. 802.1Q ports are also assigned a PVID, for use within the Switch. If no VLANs are defined on the Switch, all ports are then assigned to a default VLAN with a PVID equal to 1. Untagged packets are assigned the PVID of the port on which they were received. Forwarding decisions are based upon this PVID, in so far as VLANs are concerned. Tagged packets are forwarded according to the VID contained within the tag. Tagged packets are also assigned a PVID, but the PVID is not used to make packet forwarding decisions, the VID is. Tag-aware Switches must keep a table to relate PVIDs within the Switch to VIDs on the network. The Switch will compare the VID of a packet to be transmitted to the VID of the port that is to transmit the packet. If the two VIDs are different, the Switch will drop the packet. Because of the existence of the PVID for untagged packets and the VID for tagged packets, tagaware and tag-unaware network devices can coexist on the same network. A Switch port can have only one PVID, but can have as many VIDs as the Switch has memory in its VLAN table to store them. Because some devices on a network may be tag-unaware, a decision must be made at each port on a tag-aware device before packets are transmitted - should the packet to be transmitted have a tag or not? If the transmitting port is connected to a tagunaware device, the packet should be untagged. If the transmitting port is connected to a tag-aware device, the packet should be tagged. Tagging and Untagging Every port on an 802.1Q compliant Switch can be configured as tagging or untagging. Ports with tagging enabled will put the VID number, priority and other VLAN information into the header of all packets that flow into and out of it. If a packet has previously been tagged, the port will not alter the packet, thus keeping the VLAN information intact. The VLAN information in the tag can then be used by other 802.1Q compliant devices on the network to make packet forwarding decisions. Ports with untagging enabled will strip the 802.1Q tag from all packets that flow into and out of those ports. If the packet doesn't have an 802.1Q VLAN tag, the port will not alter the packet. Thus, all packets received by and forwarded by an untagging port will have no 802.1Q VLAN information. (Remember that the PVID is only used internally within the Switch). Untagging is used to send packets from an 802.1Q-compliant network device to a non-compliant network device. 32