Layer 2 switching

Spanning Tree Protocol

Standard 802.1d Spanning Tree support

Fast convergence using 802.1w (Rapid Spanning Tree [RSTP]), enabled by default Multiple Spanning Tree instances using 802.1s (MSTP); 8 instances are supported

Per-VLAN Spanning Tree Plus (PVST+) and Rapid PVST+ (RPVST+); 126 instances are supported

Port grouping/link aggregation

VLAN

Support for up to 4093 VLANs simultaneously

Port-based and 802.1Q tag-based VLANs, MAC-based VLAN, protocol-based VLAN, IP subnet-based VLAN

Management VLAN

Private VLAN with promiscuous, isolated, and community port

Private VLAN Edge (PVE), also known as protected ports, with multiple uplinks Guest VLAN, unauthenticated VLAN

Dynamic VLAN assignment via RADIUS server along with 802.1X client authentication Customer premises equipment (CPE) VLAN

Auto surveillance VLAN (ASV)

Voice VLAN

Voice traffic is automatically assigned to a voice-specific VLAN and treated with appropriate levels of QoS. Voice Services Discovery Protocol (VSDP) delivers networkwide zero-touch deployment of voice endpoints and call control devices

Multicast TV VLAN

Multicast TV VLAN allows the single multicast VLAN to be shared in the network while subscribers remain in separate VLANs. This feature is also known as Multicast VLAN Registration (MVR)

VLAN translation

Support for VLAN one-to-one mapping, in which customer VLANs (C-VLANs) on an edge interface are mapped to service provider VLANs (S-VLANs), and the original C-VLAN tags are replaced by the specified S-VLAN

Q-in-Q

VLANs transparently cross a service provider network while isolating traffic among customers

Selective Q-in-Q

Selective Q-in-Q is an enhancement to the basic Q-in-Q feature and provides, per edge interface, multiple mappings of different C-VLANs to separate S-VLANs

Selective Q-in-Q also allows configuring of the Ethertype (Tag Protocol Identifier [TPID]) of the S-VLAN tag

Layer 2 protocol tunneling over Q-in-Q is also supported

Generic VLAN Registration Protocol (GVRP)/Generic Attribute Registration Protocol (GARP)

GVRP and GARP enable automatic propagation and configuration of VLANs in a bridged domain

Unidirectional Link

UDLD monitors physical connections to detect unidirectional links caused by incorrect

Detection (UDLD)

wiring or cable/port faults to prevent forwarding loops and blackholing of traffic in switched networks

DHCP relay at Layer 2

Relay of DHCP traffic to a DHCP server in a different VLAN; works with DHCP Option 82

Internet Group Management Protocol (IGMP) versions 1, 2, and 3 snooping

IGMP limits bandwidth-intensive multicast traffic to only the requesters; it supports 2000 multicast groups (source-specific multicasting is also supported)

IGMP querier

IGMP querier is used to support a Layer 2 multicast domain of snooping switches in the absence of a multicast router

IGMP proxy

The IGMP proxy provides a mechanism for multicast forwarding based on IGMP membership information without the need for more complicated multicast routing protocols

Head-of-Line (HOL) blocking

HOL blocking prevention

Loopback detection

Loopback detection provides protection against loops by transmitting loop protocol packets out of ports on which loop protection has been enabled. It operates independently of STP

Layer 3

IPv4 routing

Wire-speed routing of IPv4 packets

Up to 990 static routes and up to 128 IP interfaces