Dell PowerConnect 28xx Systems User Guide 13
MAC Address Supported Features
MAC Address Capacity Support
The PowerConnect 2808, 2816, 2824 switches support a total of 8K MAC addresses, and the
PowerConnect 2848 supports a total of 16K MAC addresses.
Auto-Learning MAC Addresses
The switch enables MAC address auto-learning from incoming packets. The MAC addresses are stored in
the Bridging Table.
Automatic Aging for MAC Addresses
MAC addresses from which no traffic is received for a given period of time are aged out. This prevents
the Bridging Table from overflowing.
VLAN-aware MAC-based Switching in Managed and Secure Modes
In Managed or Secure mode, the switch system always performs VLAN-aware bridging. Classic bridging
(IEEE802.1D) is not performed (where frames are forwarded based only on their destination MAC
address). However, a similar functionality may be configured for untagged frames. Addresses are
associated with ports by learning them from the incoming frames source address.
802.1D Bridging in Unmanaged Mode
In Unmanaged Mode, the switch performs classic bridging. Frames are forwarded based on their
destination MAC address only, regardless of the VLAN tag.
MAC Multicast Support
Multicast service is a limited broadcast service, which allows one-to-many and many-to-many
connections for information distribution. Layer 2 Multicast service is where a single frame is addressed to
a specific Multicast address, from where copies of the frame are transmitted to the relevant ports. IGMP
Snooping is supported, including IGMP Querier which simulates the behavior of a multicast router,
allowing snooping of the layer 2 multicast domain even though there is no multicast router. When
Multicast groups are statically enabled, you can set the destination port of registered groups, as well as
define the behavior of unregistered multicast frames.
Layer 2 Features
Green Ethernet
Green Ethernet, also known as Energy Efficient Ethernet, is an effort to make networking equipment
environmentally friendly, specifically by reducing power usage of Ethernet connections. The following
methods are supported by the device:
•
Energy-Detect
— Auto-detection of inactivity on a port, and subsequent reducing of transmit power.