Chapter 6: Ethernet Switching

Question 1

Define collision domain and broadcast domain.

Answer 1

Collision domain: A network segment where data packets can collide (Layer 1).

Broadcast domain: A network segment where a broadcast packet is forwarded to all devices (Layer 2).

Question 2

Compare Ethernet II and IEEE 802.3 packet headers.

Answer 2

Ethernet II: Contains a type field indicating the protocol (e.g., IPv4).

IEEE 802.3: Contains a length field indicating the frame length.

Question 3

What is a MAC address and how is it used in Ethernet switching?

Answer 3

A MAC address is a unique identifier assigned to network interfaces for communication on the physical network.

Question 4

Differentiate between unicast and multicast traffic.

Answer 4

Unicast: One-to-one communication.

Multicast: One-to-many communication, targeted to a specific group.

Question 5

Describe a scenario where data forwarding would involve flooding or discarding packets.

Answer 5

Flooding: Occurs when the switch doesn’t know the destination MAC address.
Discarding: Happens when a packet is destined for the same port it was received on.