Understanding Interconnection: Switching and Bridging in Computer Networking

1. Interconnection: Switching and Bridging CS 4251: Computer Networking IINick FeamsterSpring 2008

2. In This Lecture • How hosts find each other on a subnet • Address Resolution Protocol (ARP) • Broadcast • Interconnecting subnets • Switches: Forwarding and filtering • Self-learning bridges • Spanning tree protocols • Switches vs. Hubs • Swtiches vs. Routers • Can Ethernet scale to a million nodes? • VLANs • Other alternatives

3. frame frame Bootstrapping: Networks of Interfaces • LAN/Physical/MAC address • Flat structure • Unique to physical interface (no two alike)…how? datagram receiver link layer protocol sender adapter adapter • Frames can be sent to a specific MAC address or to the broadcast MAC address What are the advantages to separating network layer from MAC layer?

4. ARP: IP Addresses to MAC addresses • Query is IP address, response is MAC address • Query is sent to LAN’s broadcast MAC address • Each host or router has an ARP table • Checks IP address of query against its IP address • Replies with ARP address if there is a match Potential problems with this approach? • Caching on hosts is really important • Try arp –a to see an ARP table

5. Life of a Packet: On a Subnet • Packet destined for outgoing IP address arrivesat network interface • Packet must be encapsulated into a frame with the destination MAC address • Frame is sent on LAN segment to all hosts • Hosts check destination MAC address against MAC address that was destination IP address of the packet

6. Interconnecting LANs • Receive & broadcast (“hub”) • Learning switches • Spanning tree (RSTP, MSTP, etc.) protocols

7. Interconnecting LANs with Hubs • All packets seen everywhere • Lots of flooding, chances for collision • Can’t interconnect LANs with heterogeneous media (e.g., Ethernets of different speeds) hub hub hub hub

8. Problems with Hubs: No Isolation • Scalability • Latency • Avoiding collisions requires backoff • Possible for a single host to hog the medium • Failures • One misconfigured device can cause problems for every other device on the LAN

9. Improving on Hubs: Switches • Link-layer • Stores and forwards Ethernet frames • Examines frame header and selectively forwards frame based on MAC dest address • When frame is to be forwarded on segment, uses CSMA/CD to access segment • Transparent • Hosts are unaware of presence of switches • Plug-and-play, self-learning • Switches do not need to be configured

10. Switch: Traffic Isolation • Switch breaks subnet into LAN segments • Switch filters packets • Same-LAN-segment frames not usually forwarded onto other LAN segments • Segments become separate collision domains switch collision domain hub hub hub collision domain collision domain

11. LAN B B A C LAN C LAN A Filtering and Forwarding • Occurs through switch table • Suppose a packet arrives destined for node with MAC address x from interface A • If MAC addressnot in table, flood (act like a hub) • If MAC addressmaps to A, do nothing (i.e. drop the packet - packet destined for same LAN segment) • If MAC address maps to another interface, forward • How does this table get configured?

12. Advantages vs. Hubs • Better scaling • Separate collision domains allow longer distances • Better privacy • Hosts can “snoop” the traffic traversing their segment • … but not all the rest of the traffic • Heterogeneity • Joins segments using different technologies

13. Disadvantages vs. Hubs • Delay in forwarding frames • Bridge/switch must receive and parse the frame • … and perform a look-up to decide where to forward • Storing and forwarding the packet introduces delay • Solution:cut-through switching (faster, but more errors are possible). • Need to learn where to forward frames • Bridge/switch needs to construct a forwarding table • Ideally, without intervention from network administrators (which creates overhead) • Solution:self-learning

14. Motivation For Self-Learning • Switches forward frames selectively • Forward frames only on segments that need them • Switch table • Maps destination MAC address to outgoing interface • Goal: construct the switch table automatically B A C switch D

15. (Self)-Learning Bridges • Switch is initially empty • For eachincoming frame, store: • The incoming interface from which the frame arrived • The time at which that frame arrived • Delete the entry if no frames with a particular source address arrive within a certain time B Switch learns how to reach A. A C D

16. Cut-Through Switching • Buffering a frame takes time • Suppose L is the length of the frame • And R is the transmission rate of the links • Then, receiving the frame takes L/R time units • Buffering delay can be a high fraction of total delay, especially over short distances A B switches

17. Cut-Through Switching • Start transmitting as soon as possible • Inspect the frame header and do the look-up • If outgoing link is idle, start forwarding the frame • Overlapping transmissions • Transmit the head of the packet via the outgoing link • … while still receiving the tail via the incoming link • Analogy: different folks crossing different intersections A B switches

18. Limitations on Topology • Switches sometimes need to broadcast frames • Unfamiliar destination: Act like a hub • Sending to broadcast • Flooding can lead to forwarding loops and broadcast storms • E.g., if the network contains a cycle of switches • Either accidentally, or by design for higher reliability Worse yet, packets can be duplicated and proliferated!

19. Solution: Spanning Trees • Ensure the topology has no loops • Avoid using some of the links when flooding • … to avoid forming a loop • Spanning tree • Sub-graph that covers all vertices but contains no cycles • Links not in the spanning treedo not forward frames

20. Constructing a Spanning Tree • Elect a root • The switch with the smallest identifier • Each switch identifies if its interfaceis on the shortest path from the root • And it exclude from the tree if not • Also exclude from tree if same distance,but higher identifier • Message Format: (Y, d, X) i.e., • (Root-Distance-Node) • From node X • Claiming Y as root • Distance is d root One hop Three hops

21. Steps in Spanning Tree Algorithm • Initially, every switch announces itself as the root • Example: switch X announces (X, 0, X) • Switches update their view of the root • Upon receiving a message, check the root id • If the new id is smaller, start viewing that switch as root • Switches compute their distancefrom the root • Add 1 to the distance received from a neighbor • Identify interfaces not on a shortest path to the root and excludethose ports from the spanning tree

22. Example From Switch # 4’s Viewpoint 1 • Switch #4 thinks it is the root • Sends (4, 0, 4) message to 2 and 7 • Switch #4 hears from #2 • Receives (2, 0, 2) message from 2 • … and thinks that #2 is the root (lower id) • And realizes it is just one hop away • Switch #4 hears from #7 • Receives (2, 1, 7) from 7 • (i.e., 2 is the root, it’s 1 hop from “me”, I’m node 7.) • And realizes this is a longer path • because it adds 1 to the path from 7 – 2, wh/is already 1 hop, so 4-7-2 = 2 hops • So, prefers its own one-hop path (4-2 =1hop) • And removes 4-7 link from the tree 3 5 2 4 6 7

23. Robust Spanning Tree Algorithm • Algorithm must react to failures • Failure of the root node • Need to elect a new root, with the next lowest identifier • Failure of other switches and links • Need to recompute the spanning tree • Root switch continues sending messages • Periodically reannouncing itself as the root (1, 0, 1) • Other switches continue forwarding messages • Detecting failures through timeout • Switch waits to hear from others • Eventually times out and claims to be the root

24. Extension: Virtual LANs • Partition a single switched LAN into several virtual ones • Switched LANs do not scale well to large networks • Spanning tree algorithm has linear scaling behavior • Some frames are broadcast • Group users/hosts based on organizational structure, rather than physical location • Improve privacy and isolation • Exploit locality • Avoid physical rewiring • More in Lec. 12 (Plus, Network Layers as Link Layers)

25. Switches vs. Routers Switches • Switches are automatically configuring • Forwarding tends to be quite fast, since packets only need to be processed through layer 2 Routers • Router-level topologies are not restricted to a spanning tree • Can even have multipath routing

26. Scaling Ethernet • Main limitation: Broadcast • Spanning tree protocol messages • ARP queries • High-level proposal: Distributed directory service • Each switch implements a directory service • Hosts register at each bridge • Directory is replicated • Queries answered locally • …are there other ways to do this?