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Gvrp-inactive intermediate switches – Allied Telesis AT-S62 User Manual

Page 425

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AT-S62 User’s Guide

Section V: Virtual LANs

425

GVRP-inactive

Intermediate

Switches

The presence of a GVRP-inactive switch between GVRP-active devices
may impact the ability of GVRP to automatically configure the VLANs in
your switches. You may need to take this into account when
implementing GVRP in your network.

One of the problems poised by the introduction of a GVRP-inactive
device is that an GVRP-inactive device will probably not forward PDUs,
thus preventing the GVRP-active switches from sharing VLAN
information. This is because PDUs are management packets, intended
for a switch’s CPU. In all likelihood, a GVRP-inactive switch will simply
discard the PDUs it receives on its ports because the CPU will not
recognize their function.

Another issue is that even if the GVRP-inactive switch does forward GVRP
PDUs, it will not automatically create the VLANs. Consequently, even if
GVRP-active switches on either side of a GVRP-inactive switch receive
the PDUs and create the necessary VLANs, the intermediate switch may
block the VLAN traffic, unless you manually modify its VLANs and port
assignments.