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74 
Chapter 10 MAC Table Configuration 
10.1 Introduction to MAC Table 
MAC table is a table identifies the mapping relationship between destination MAC addresses 
and switch ports. MAC addresses can be categorized as static MAC addresses and dynamic 
MAC addresses. Static MAC addresses are manually configured by the user, have the highest 
priority  and  are  permanently effective (will  not  be  overwritten  by  dynamic  MAC  addresses); 
dynamic  MAC  addresses  are  entries  learnt  by  the  switch  in  data  frame  forwarding,  and  is 
effective for a limited period. When the switch receives a data frame to be forwarded, it stores 
the  source  MAC address  of  the  data frame  and  creates  a  mapping  to  the  destination  port. 
Then  the  MAC  table  is  queried  for  the  destination  MAC  address,  if  hit,  the  data  frame  is 
forwarded  in  the  associated  port,  otherwise,  the  switch  forwards  the  data  frame  to  its 
broadcast domain. If a dynamic MAC address is not learnt from the  data frames to  be 
forwarded for a long time, the entry will be deleted from the switch MAC table.  
There are two MAC table operations: 
Obtain a MAC address. 
Forward or filter data frame according to the MAC table.  
10.1.1 Obtaining MAC Table 
The MAC table can be built up statically and dynamically. Static configuration is to set up a 
mapping between the MAC addresses and the ports; dynamic learning is the process in which 
the switch learns the mapping between MAC addresses and ports, and updates the MAC table 
regularly. In this section, we will focus on the dynamic learning process of MAC table. 
MAC Table dynamic learning 
PC1 
MAC 
00-01-11-11-11-11 
PC4 
MAC 
00-01-44-44-44-44 
PC3 
MAC 
00-01-33-33-33-33 
PC2 
MAC 
00-01-22-22-22-22 
Port 5 
Port 12 










