User guide

September 2009
OmniSwitch 6400/6850/6855/9000/9000E------ Release 6.4.2.R01 Page 51 of 79
User Network Profile (UNP)
A User Network Profile (UNP) defines network access controls for one or more user devices. Each
device that is assigned to a specific profile is granted network access based on the profile criteria,
instead of on an individual MAC address, IP address, or port. Assigning users to a profile provides
greater flexibility and scalability across the network. Administrators can use profiles to group users
according to function. All users assigned to the same UNP become members of that profile group. The
UNP then determines what network access resources are available to a group of users, regardless of
source subnet, VLAN or other characteristics.
VLANs
One of the main benefits of using VLANs to segment network traffic, is that VLAN configuration and
port assignment is handled through switch software. This eliminates the need to physically change a
network device connection or location when adding or removing devices from the VLAN broadcast
domain.
The VLAN management software handles the following VLAN configuration tasks:
• Creating or modifying VLANs.
• Assigning or changing default VLAN port associations (VPAs).
• Enabling or disabling VLAN participation in the current Spanning Tree algorithm.
• Enabling or disabling classification of mobile port traffic by 802.1Q tagged VLAN ID.
• Enabling or disabling VLAN authentication.
• Defining VLAN IPX router interfaces to enable routing of VLAN IPX traffic.
• Enabling or disabling unique MAC address assignments for each router VLAN defined.
• Displaying VLAN configuration information.
Up to 4094 VLANs for Flat Spanning Tree mode and 252 VLANs for 1x1 Spanning Tree mode are
supported. In addition, it is also possible to specify a range of VLAN IDs when creating or deleting
VLANs and/or configuring VLAN parameters, such as Spanning Tree bridge values.
VLAN Stacking and Translation
VLAN Stacking provides a mechanism for tunneling multiple customer VLANs (CVLAN) through a
service provider network over the Ethernet Metropolitan Area Network (EMAN). The service provider
network uses one or more service provider VLANs (SVLAN) by appending an 802.1Q double tag or
VLAN Translation on a customer port that contains the customer’s assigned tunnel ID. This traffic is
then encapsulated into the tunnel and transmitted through the service provider network. It is received
on another Provider Edge (PE) that has the same tunnel ID.
This feature enables service providers to provide their customers with Transparent LAN Services
(TLS). This service is multipoint in nature so as to support multiple customer sites or networks
distributed over the edges of a service provider network.
VLAN Stacking Legacy and Eservice Modes
The VLAN Stacking application operates in one of two modes: Legacy and Eservice. The two modes
basically differ in how VLAN Stacking is configured, with the Eservice mode offering the following
additional enhancements that are not available in the Legacy mode:
• Ethernet service-based approach that is similar to configuring a virtual private LAN service
(VPLS).
• Ingress bandwidth sharing across User Network Interface (UNI) ports.