Forwarding Frames Between Two Switches

Forwarding Frames Between Two Switches

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The basic switch logic for each switch does not change when you use multiple switches. In this figure, both switches' address tables have been populated, and each switch knows where to forward the frames. Note that switch1's address table tells it to forward frames sent to Barney out port FastEthernet 23, to switch2. Switch2's table lists port E3 beside Barney's address, so it forwards the frame to Barney out port E3.

In the context of connecting multiple switches, the term trunk can be used a couple of different ways. For instance, the Ethernet cable segment between switch1 and switch2 can be called a trunk. In this case, trunk refers to the fact that the segment connects two switches. (The other use of the word "trunk" will be explained in the next section.)