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not included on this switch, then the packet should be sent to the next hop router
(with the MAC address of the router itself used as the destination MAC address, and
the destination IP address of the destination node). The router will then forward the
packet to the destination node through the correct path. The router can also use the
ARP protocol to find out the MAC address of the destination node of the next router
as necessary.
Note:
In order to perform IP switching, the switch should be recognized by other network
nodes as an IP router, either by setting it as the default gateway or by redirection
from another router via the ICMP process.
When the switch receives an IP packet addressed to its own MAC address, the
packet follows the Layer 3 routing process. The destination IP address is checked
against the Layer 3 address table. If the address is not already there, the switch
broadcasts an ARP packet to all the ports on the destination VLAN to find out the
destination MAC address. After the MAC address is discovered, the packet is
reformatted and sent out to the destination. The reformat process includes
decreasing the Time-To-Live (TTL) field of the IP header, recalculating the IP header
checksum, and replacing the destination MAC address with either the MAC address
of the destination node or that of the next hop router.
When another packet destined to the same node arrives, the destination MAC can
be retrieved directly from the Layer 3 address table; the packet is then reformatted
and sent out the destination port. IP switching can be done at wire-speed when the
destination address entry is already in the Layer 3 address table.
If the switch determines that a frame must be routed, the route is calculated only
during setup. Once the route has been determined, all packets in the current flow
are simply switched or forwarded across the chosen path. This takes advantage of
the high throughput and low latency of switching by enabling the traffic to bypass the
routing engine once the path calculation has been performed.
Routing Path Management
Routing Path Management involves the determination and updating of all the routing
information required for packet forwarding, including:
• Handling routing protocols
• Updating the routing table
• Updating the Layer 3 switching database
19-3
IP Switching
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