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0:00:13
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So, let's then look at our last topic for switching in this section, which is the Flex Links.
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0:00:20
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Now, Flex Links is a way to do link redundancy without having to run Spanning Tree.
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0:00:26
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So, as we saw with the Per-VLAN Spanning Tree and the Multiple Spanning Tree,
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0:00:32
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there's a lot of configuration maintenance that we would need to do,
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0:00:35
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and there's a lot of protocol overhead when we're running one instance of Spanning Tree for every VLAN,
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0:00:41
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or if we wanna reduce this by doing the Multiple Spanning Tree domains.
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0:00:45
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So, in some type of case where the physical topology is very straightforward,
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0:00:50
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but at the same time, we have redundant links,
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0:00:53
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then, we could use this Flex Links feature as opposed to Spanning Tree.
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0:00:59
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Now, the configuration is very straightforward.
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0:01:01
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It's similar to the Backup Interface command that's supported in the regular router IOS.
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0:01:07
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But in this case, we're using the switch port Backup Interface command
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0:01:10
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instead of regular Backup Interface.
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0:01:17
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So, if we look at a potential design of this...
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0:01:21
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would be...
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0:01:23
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here where we have switch 2...
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0:01:28
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having the multiple links to switch 3...
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0:01:33
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Switch 3 and...
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0:01:35
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switch 1,
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0:01:38
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and switch 2 wants to say...
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0:01:41
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that "This is my primary link.
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0:01:45
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And this is my backup link."
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0:01:50
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So, the topology is fairly straightforward here,
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0:01:52
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we don't have too many diverse connections that we really would want to run Spanning Tree.
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0:01:58
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But we do at the same time need to make sure that we're preventing some sort of Layer 2 loop.
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0:02:04
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So, on switch 2, on the primary interface, we will define that the other interface is the backup,
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0:02:10
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which effectively is going to disable Spanning Tree for those interfaces.
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0:02:15
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Now, once we do this,
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0:02:19
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we could potentially have a problem in convergence based on the CAM Table,
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0:02:25
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which previously, Spanning Tree solved by using that Uplink Fast feature
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0:02:31
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where with Uplink Fast, when you switch from one interface over to the other one,
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0:02:35
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the router spoofs the sources in the CAM Table,
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0:02:39
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sends out the source MAC address frames to make sure that the other switches in the network
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0:02:44
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update their CAM Table from one interface to another.
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0:02:47
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So, along with this Flex Links feature,
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0:02:50
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it supports its MAC Address Table Move Update, or the MMU feature
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0:02:55
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that says, "Once the Backup Interface becomes active,
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0:02:59
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flood the CAM Table out that link
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0:03:02
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to make sure that the other switches in the network know where the actual end hosts are located.
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0:03:09
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Now, documentation-wise, this would be under...
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0:03:13
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the Catalyst Configuration Guide and then down to Flex Links
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0:03:17
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and the MAC address Table Move Update feature.
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0:03:21
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So, you may wanna go through some of the examples they show here,
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0:03:24
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they are some additional features that are available for it.
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0:03:28
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Like if you're running multicast switching at the same time
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0:03:33
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that you learned about multicast MAC address from IGNP Snooping,
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0:03:37
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then, you would need to flood those as well with your MAC address Move feature
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0:03:43
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to make sure that the multicast flows can still get deliver down to the...
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0:03:48
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the end host.
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0:03:51
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But if we look at the overall configuration example,
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0:03:56
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it says, "Go to the interface. Say, Switch 4 Backup Interface, and then the other link."
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0:04:02
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Okay, so that's... It's only one command in order to configure it
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0:04:06
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But the key is once you're doing this,
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0:04:09
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you're disabling Spanning Tree both on the primary interface and on the Backup Interface.
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0:04:17
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In the case of switch 3 here, or switch 2,
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0:04:22
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this is interface 13 and 17.
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0:04:27
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So, on interface 17 of switch 2,
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0:04:34
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and for simplicity, let me make sure that the...
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0:04:36
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the other switches are running their default versions of Spanning Tree as well.
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0:04:40
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So, Spanning Tree Mode is PVST.
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0:04:50
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On switch 2, switch 3...
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0:04:53
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And then, switch 4.
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0:05:05
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Next on switch 2, let's look at the Show Interface Trunk.
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0:05:09
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We see that we have two possible trunk links, Fast Ethernet 13 and Fast Ethernet 17.
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0:05:15
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And I want to use this to forward to VLAN 10 traffic,
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0:05:19
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which is gonna be those packets that are going between router 1 and router 2.
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0:05:26
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So, we can see that those dropped packets that was due to regular Per-VLAN Spanning Tree convergence.
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0:05:32
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Next, on switch 2, I'm gonna go to interface Fast Ethernet 17,
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0:05:37
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and say that the switch port Backup Interface is Fast Ethernet 13.
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0:05:46
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We could also use the MAC address Move...
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0:05:53
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feature.
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0:05:55
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Okay, we need a VLAN number to encapsulate over the trunk, let's just say VLAN 1, we'll use...
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0:06:02
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And then, I believe that we need to...
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0:06:05
|
enable those globally as well.
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0:06:08
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So, let's see the...
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0:06:10
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From the usage guidelines, if we look at that how to configure the feature,
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0:06:17
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the configuring the MAC Address Table Move update feature.
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0:06:19
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Again, this is gonna show you the step by step list of exactly what you need to do.
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0:06:25
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So, a feature like this in the exam, they're not gonna expect you to be an expert in it,
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0:06:29
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but as long as you can basically follow the directions here, then, there should be no problem with it.
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0:06:34
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Okay, it says, "Go to link level, say either one of these commands."
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0:06:37
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So, Switch Port Back Interface, or Backup Interface with Move Update On.
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0:06:43
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Then, we need to tell the switch to transmit...
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0:06:49
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the MAC addresses.
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0:06:52
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So, this would mean that switch 2 is gonna do that.
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0:06:56
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Then, on the other side who is switch 1,
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0:07:01
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we need to say that they will receive these updates.
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0:07:06
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So, there's some sort of special encoding that they're doing for the CAM Table updates.
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0:07:15
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Okay, so let's see if this is gonna work now. Let's...
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0:07:18
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ping between these neighbors. We'll say, "Time out is 1 second."
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0:07:21
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So, we can see how long it's taking to converge.
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0:07:24
|
Now, on switch 3...
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0:07:28
|
who is connecting to switch 2, we're gonna shut this link down.
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0:07:33
|
Okay, that particular link, let's Show Interface Trunk.
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0:07:37
|
That is my Fast Ethernet 0/17.
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|
0:07:45
|
And we see, only one packet was lost.
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0:07:48
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So, it was just over 1 second for it to converge.
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0:07:52
|
If we look at switch 2,
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0:07:56
|
it says, "The line protocol of that link went down."
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|
0:07:59
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If we Show...
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0:08:04
|
Let's see what's the verification here.
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0:08:12
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Show MAC Address Table Move Update...
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0:08:14
|
would be 1...
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0:08:24
|
It says the...
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0:08:25
|
"The current settings are that we are transmitting."
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0:08:32
|
The transmit packet count was 1 that was because there was only one MAC address.
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|
0:08:35
|
If we look at the same output on switch 1, we should have seen that we...
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|
0:08:39
|
received a MAC address.
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0:08:43
|
Which we did, the receive count is 1.
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|
0:08:47
|
We received it in that interface...
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|
0:08:51
|
and this was the MAC address that it came from. So, this must be one of the MAC addresses of...
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|
0:08:55
|
switch 2.
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0:08:59
|
Then, how do we verify the Backup Interface itself. Let's see...
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|
0:09:05
|
Monitoring Flex Links and the MAC Address Table Move update.
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|
0:09:08
|
So, when you're looking at the documentation here,
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0:09:11
|
and the configuration guide, usually, the very last section
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|
0:09:14
|
is where the Show commands or the Debug commands are located.
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0:09:18
|
So, it will say, "Monitoring whatever the feature is."
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|
0:09:22
|
Okay, so in this case, Show Interfaces Switch Port Backup.
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0:09:25
|
Or Show MAC Address Table Move Update.
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|
0:09:27
|
So, I want this command for...
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|
0:09:32
|
Probably, I would guess, it's gonna be the...
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|
0:09:38
|
primary interface. Let's try 17.
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|
0:09:44
|
Okay, so that tells us. It says, "The active interface is supposed to be 17. The Backup Interface is 13,
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|
0:09:49
|
but right now, the current state...
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|
0:09:52
|
is that the active interface is down.
|
|
0:09:55
|
So, the result is that we're using the backup link."
|
|
0:09:59
|
We should see this if we look at switch 1, and look at the CAM Table.
|
|
0:10:04
|
The MAC address of router 2...
|
|
0:10:10
|
Dynamic VLAN 10. The MAC address of router 2 should be associated on port 13, which it is.
|
|
0:10:20
|
Now, once the backup link...
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|
0:10:23
|
Or once the primary link comes back,
|
|
0:10:33
|
we should see that the...
|
|
0:10:37
|
active link is gonna be used again.
|
|
0:10:41
|
And there is a preemption value that you can set in here. So, we can set a timer...
|
|
0:10:47
|
for when we wanna switch for the Backup Interface back to the active interface.
|
|
0:10:51
|
So, right now, it's in standby state.
|
|
0:10:54
|
It may actually not switch back automatically unless we configure the preemption.
|
|
0:10:59
|
So, let's see what it says there...
|
|
0:11:05
|
It says, "The default configuration...
|
|
0:11:08
|
Flex Links are not configured and the preemption mode is off."
|
|
0:11:12
|
So, we need to turn the preemption on in order for the primary interface to be used again.
|
|
0:11:19
|
So, let's see, what is the...
|
|
0:11:22
|
What's the syntax to do that then?
|
|
0:11:28
|
Switch Port Backup Interface Preemption Mode.
|
|
0:11:32
|
Configure a preemption mechanism and delay for the Flex Links interface pair.
|
|
0:11:36
|
You can configure preemption as: Forced - active interface always preempts the backup.
|
|
0:11:40
|
Or Bandwidth - the interface with the higher bandwidth always acts as the active interface.
|
|
0:11:45
|
So, if I were to say, "This should be on...
|
|
0:11:49
|
Fast Ethernet 17 then."
|
|
0:12:00
|
Let's just say Switch Port Backup Interface...
|
|
0:12:04
|
F0/13...
|
|
0:12:08
|
Preemption.
|
|
0:12:12
|
Mode is Forced.
|
|
0:12:22
|
So, this may not actually effect until we...
|
|
0:12:27
|
reset the interfaces.
|
|
0:12:29
|
Let me try to shut it down on this side again and see if it...
|
|
0:12:33
|
See if it affects it.
|
|
0:12:35
|
So now, the active link should be down, which it is.
|
|
0:12:39
|
Once this comes back,
|
|
0:12:43
|
then the...
|
|
0:12:49
|
The backup link should come back up.
|
|
0:12:51
|
Actually, you know what, it's gonna be based on that delay as well.
|
|
0:12:54
|
So, probably, we're gonna have to wait about 30 seconds...
|
|
0:12:58
|
before it actually kicks in.
|
|
0:13:00
|
We could likewise change that as well. It says, Switch Port Backup Interface Preemption Delay.
|
|
0:13:07
|
So, if I said that the...
|
|
0:13:16
|
Backup Interface Preemption Delay is let's say 5 seconds.
|
|
0:13:22
|
Okay, we can see the log message now. It says, "The Backup Interface...
|
|
0:13:25
|
is going down, because Fast Ethernet 13 has preempted it."
|
|
0:13:29
|
So, the idea behind this, and the same with the Backup Interface on the routers
|
|
0:13:33
|
is that most likely, you want to allow some convergence for the other protocols.
|
|
0:13:38
|
So, most likely, you're running some type of, maybe Layer 3 routing on top of this.
|
|
0:13:42
|
So, you would want the routing to re-converge before you make your Layer 2 interfaces go back to their original state.
|
|
0:13:51
|
When we get into Layer 3 redundancy, we'll take a look at some options of this
|
|
0:13:56
|
in the regular router IOS using things like the Backup Interface command,
|
|
0:14:00
|
using policy routing with reliable policy routing, reliable static routes, GRE tunnels.
|
|
0:14:07
|
There's a lot of different ways that you can...
|
|
0:14:09
|
use on the regular router's IOS to do this type of redundancy.
|
|
0:14:14
|
Okay, also, it say there that "Load balancing is an option."
|
|
0:14:24
|
It says, "Configure as physical Layer 2 interface or port channel as part of a Flex Links pair with the interface,
|
|
0:14:29
|
and specify the VLAN on the interface." Okay, so that's straightforward.
|
|
0:14:32
|
Let's see... Where does it say about the...
|
|
0:14:39
|
Load balancing support.
|
|
0:14:44
|
Allows you to configure Flex Links pair so that both ports simultaneously forward for some mutually exclusive VLANs.
|
|
0:14:50
|
So, you're not doing like per-packet load balancing.
|
|
0:14:54
|
It's basically like in Spanning Tree where you're preferring one interface over another.
|
|
0:15:01
|
So, features like this, again, they're not expecting you to be an expert on this.
|
|
0:15:05
|
If you could read through the documentation, it's pretty self explanatory what it means.
|
|
0:15:09
|
So, these type of minor features, that's really where you need to spend the time reading through the documents.
|
|
0:15:16
|
Okay, there's really no other shortcut to do this.
|
|
0:15:18
|
If you didn't know that this feature existed
|
|
0:15:21
|
then, if you were to get a question of it in the exam,
|
|
0:15:23
|
you basically have no idea where to look in the first place.
|
|
0:15:27
|
But now that you know this feature does exist,
|
|
0:15:30
|
we don't even need to know what are all the other options along with it.
|
|
0:15:33
|
It's not gonna take more than 5, 10 minutes in the exam to go to this document.
|
|
0:15:38
|
Look at the configuration examples,
|
|
0:15:41
|
and then pretty much just copy and paste this to the command line.
|
|
0:15:47
|
Now, it would be things like configuring VLANs, configuring VTP,
|
|
0:15:54
|
configuring Spanning Tree.
|
|
0:15:56
|
This type of stuff, you're not gonna have time to reference in the exam..
|
|
0:16:00
|
So, any of the core networking protocols,
|
|
0:16:03
|
things that are gonna allow you to get basic Layer 2 and Layer 3 reachability,
|
|
0:16:07
|
you should know all of those topics off the top of your head.
|
|
0:16:11
|
Any minor feature of the routing protocols, or the Layer 2 switches,
|
|
0:16:15
|
that's the type of stuff that you would be using the documentation for.
|