Administrator Guide

Table Of Contents
Port Characteristics 599
Switchport Modes
Each port on the Dell Networking N1500, N2000, N3000, and N4000 Series
switches can be configured to be in one of the following modes:
Access — Access ports are intended to connect end-stations to the system,
especially when the end-stations are incapable of generating VLAN tags.
Access ports support a single VLAN (the PVID). Packets received untagged
are processed as if they are tagged with the access port PVID. Packets
received that are tagged with the PVID are also processed. Packets received
that are tagged with a VLAN other than the PVID are dropped. If the
VLAN associated with an access port is deleted, the PVID of the access
port is set to VLAN 1. VLAN 1 may not be deleted.
Trunk — Trunk-mode ports are intended for switch-to-switch links. Trunk
ports can receive both tagged and untagged packets. Tagged packets
received on a trunk port are forwarded on the VLAN contained in the tag if
the trunk port is a member of the VLAN. Untagged packets received on a
trunk port are forwarded on the native VLAN. Packets received on another
interface belonging to the native VLAN are transmitted untagged on a
trunk port.
General — General ports can act like access or trunk ports or a hybrid of
both.
VLAN membership rules that apply to a port are based on the switchport
mode configured for the port. Table 18-2 shows the behavior of the three
switchport modes.
Table 18-2. Switchport Mode Behavior
Mode VLAN Membership Frames
Accepted
Frames Sent Ingress
Filtering
Access One VLAN Untagged/
Tagged
Untagged Always On
Trunk All VLANs that exist in
the system (default)
Untagged/
Tagged
Tagged and
Untagged
Always On
General As many as desired Tagged or
Untagged
Tagged or
Untagged
On or Off