Owner's Manual

Appendix E. Glossary | 929

NETGEAR 8800 User Manual

fast path This term refers to the data path for a packet that traverses the switch and does

not require processing by the CPU. Fast path packets are handled entirely by

ASICs and are forwarded at wire speed rate.

FDB Forwarding database. The switch maintains a database of all MAC address

received on all of its ports and uses this information to decide whether a frame

should be forwarded or filtered. Each FDB entry consists of the MAC address of

the sending device, an identifier for the port on which the frame was received,

and an identifier for the VLAN to which the device belongs. Frames destined for

devices that are not currently in the FDB are flooded to all members of the

VLAN. For some types of entries, you configure the time it takes for the specific

entry to age out of the FDB.

FIB Forwarding Information Base. The Layer 3 routing table is referred to as the FIB.

frame This is the unit of transmission at the data link layer. The frame contains the

header and trailer information required by the physical medium of transmission.

full-duplex This is the communication mode in which a device simultaneously sends and

receives over the same link, doubling the bandwidth. Thus, a full-duplex 100

Mbps connection has a bandwidth of 200 Mbps, and so forth. A device either

automatically adjusts its duplex mode to match that of a connecting device or

you can configure the duplex mode; all devices at 1 Gbps or higher run only in

full-duplex mode.

GBIC Gigabit Interface Connector. These devices, available in a variety of fiber modes

and physical shapes, provide the physical interface to a gigabit Ethernet

connection.

Gigabit Ethernet This is the networking standard for transmitting data at 1000 Mbps or 1 Gbps.

Devices can transmit at multiples of gigabit Ethernet as well.

half-duplex This is the communication mode in which a device can either send or receive

data, but not simultaneously. (Devices at 1 Gbps or higher do not run in

half-duplex mode; they run only in full-duplex mode.)

header This is control information (such as originating and destination stations, priority,

error checking, and so forth) added in front of the data when encapsulating the

data for network transmission.

hitless failover In the NETGEAR implementation on modular switches, hitless failover means

that designated configurations survive a change of primacy between the two

MSMs with all details intact. Thus, those features run seamlessly during and

after control of the system changes from one MSM to another.