H3C Technologies H3C SecPath F1000-E - Manual (Page 80)

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Interface Management Configuration
Interface Management Overview
An interface is the point of interaction or communication between devices. It is used for exchanging data
between devices. A physical interface is an interface that materially exists and is supported by a device.
For example, an Ethernet interface or an AUX interface is a physical interface. A logical interface is an
interface that can implement data switching but does not exist physically. A logical interface must be
established through configuration.
The interface management feature is used by the Web-based configuration interface to manage all
physical interfaces and the following two types of logical interfaces of a device:
• Loopback interfaces, that is, logical interfaces with IP addresses on the network segment 127.0.0.0.
Loopback interfaces can be used for receiving all packets destined for the local device.
• Null interfaces, which are always up and can neither forward data packets nor be configured with
an IP address or any link layer protocol. Any data packets sent to a null interface will be dropped.
• Layer 2 Ethernet subinterfaces, which operate on the data link layer and process Layer 2 protocols,
and are mainly used for inter-VLAN packet forwarding on firewall cards. The link type of a Layer 2
Ethernet subinterface is access, which cannot be changed. You can add a Layer 2 subinterface to
a VLAN. For the related configuration, see VLAN Configuration.
• Layer 3 Ethernet subinterfaces, which operate on the network layer and process Layer 3 protocols.
You can assign an IP address to a Layer 3 Ethernet subinterface. Layer 3 Ethernet subinterfaces are
configured mainly to enable Layer 3 Ethernet interfaces to send and receive VLAN-tagged packets.
• VLAN interfaces, which are virtual Layer 3 interfaces used for Layer 3 communications between
VLANs. Each VLAN interface corresponds to a VLAN. You can assign an IP address to a VLAN
interface and specify it as the gateway of the corresponding VLAN to forward traffic destined for an
IP network segment different from that of the VLAN.
• Tunnel interfaces, which are virtual Layer 3 interfaces at the ends of tunnels and enable devices to
transmit packets through tunnels and recognize and process packets received from tunnels.
• Virtual template (VT) interfaces, which are templates used for configuring virtual access (VA)
interfaces.
You can use the interface management feature to view interface information, create/remove logical
interfaces, change interface status, and reset interface parameters.
Configuring Interface Management
Displaying the Information and Statistics of an Interface
Select Device Management > Interface from the navigation tree to enter the page shown in Figure
1 . The page shows the name, IP address, mask, and status of each interface.