Managing MAC Address Tables
MAC addresses are stored in the Static Address table or the Dynamic Address table, along with VLAN and port information. Static addresses are configured by the user in the Static Address table and do not age out. MAC addresses seen in packets arriving at the switch are listed in the Dynamic Address table for a period of time. If another frame with the same source MAC address does not appear on the switch before that time expires, the entry is deleted from the table.
When a frame arrives on the switch, the switch searches for a MAC address that matches a static or dynamic table entry. If a match is found, the frame is marked for egress on a specific port based on the search of the tables. Frames addressed to a destination MAC address that is not found in the tables are flooded to all the ports on the relevant VLAN. These frames are called Unknown Unicast Frames.
The switch supports a maximum of 8,000 static and dynamic MAC addresses.
This section contains information for defining both static and dynamic MAC address tables and includes the following topics: