Module 7: The access layer

Question 1

What will a Layer 2 switch do when the destination MAC address of a received frame is not in the MAC table?

Answer 1

A Layer 2 switch determines how to handle incoming frames by using its MAC address table. When an incoming frame contains a destination MAC address that is not in the table, the switch forwards the frame out all ports, except for the port on which it was received.

Question 2

Which network device has the primary function to send data to a specific destination based on the information found in the MAC address table?

Answer 2

If a MAC address is found in the MAC address table, then data is sent to the associated switch port. If the MAC address is not found in the MAC address table, the data is sent to all switch ports that have devices attached to the same network.

Question 3

What addressing information is recorded by a switch to build its MAC address table?

Answer 3

A switch builds a MAC address table by inspecting incoming Layer 2 frames and recording the source MAC address found in the frame header. The discovered and recorded MAC address is then associated with the port used to receive the frame.