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3-1
Chapter 3
NB-30 Bridging
Bridge management overview; viewing and managing bridging interfaces; using the Bridge Status
window; viewing bridge statistics; using Spanning Tree; using the Filtering Database; Restoring bridge
defaults; Resetting bridge defaults; Restarting the bridge.
Bridging Basics
Bridges are used in local area networks to connect two or more network segments
and to control the ßow of packets between the segments. Ideally, bridges forward
packets to another network segment only when necessary.
Bridges are also used to increase the fault tolerance in a local area network by
creating redundant bridge paths between network segments. In the event of a
bridge or bridge segment failure, an alternate bridge path will be available to
network trafÞc, without signiÞcant interruption to its ßow.
The method a bridge uses to forward packets, choose a bridge path, and ensure
that a sending stationÕs messages take only one bridge path depends on the
bridgeÕs type: Transparent (generally used in Ethernet or FDDI environments) or
Source Routing (generally used in Token Ring environments), Source
Route-Transparent, or Source Route-TranslationalÑthe two latter being
combinations that are found in a mixed network environment. Because the NB-30
is a transparent bridge, this chapter describes viewing and conÞguration options
related to Transparent bridging.