R3204P16-HP Load Balancing Module Network Management Configuration Guide-6PW101

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Interface management configuration
Interface overview
An interface is the point of interaction or communication between network devices. It exchanges data
between network devices. A physical interface is an interface that materially exists and is supported by
hardware. For example, an Ethernet interface or a console interface is a physical interface. A logical
interface is created manually, and can implement data switching but does not exist physically.
The interface management feature is used by the CLI or web-based configuration interface to manage all
physical interfaces and logical interfaces.
Physical interfaces
• Layer 2 Ethernet interfaces, which are physical interfaces operating on the data link layer for Layer
2 packet forwarding.
• Layer 3 Ethernet interfaces, which are physical interfaces operating on the network layer for Layer
3 packet forwarding. You can assign an IP address to a Layer 3 Ethernet interface.
• Layer 2-Layer 3 Ethernet interfaces, which are physical interfaces that can operate on both the data
link layer and the network layer. When operating on the data link layer, a Layer 2-Layer 3 Ethernet
interface acts as a Layer 2 Ethernet interface. When operating on the network layer, a Layer 2-Layer
3 Ethernet interface acts as a Layer 3 Ethernet interface.
Logical interfaces
• Loopback interfaces, which are logical interfaces with IP addresses on the network segment
127.0.0.0. Loopback interfaces can receive all packets destined for the local device. For more
information, see “Configuring a loopback interface.”
• 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.
For more information, see “Configuring the null interface.”
• Layer 2 Ethernet subinterfaces, which are logical interfaces operating on the data link layer. They
are mainly used for inter-VLAN packet forwarding on LB modules. The link type of a Layer 2 Ethernet
subinterface is access, which cannot be changed. Besides the Layer 2 subinterface configurations
described in this chapter, you can also assign a Layer 2 subinterface to a VLAN. For more
information, see the chapter “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
enable Layer 3 Ethernet interfaces to send and receive VLAN-tagged packets.
• VLAN interfaces, which are virtual Layer 3 interfaces that enable 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.
• Virtual template (VT) interfaces, which are templates used to configure virtual access (VA)
interfaces.