Bridge Mode Configuration

The Provider Bridging feature of VLAN Module in Intelligent Switching Solution ( ISS) enables a service provider to offer an equivalent of separate VLANs to a number of separate customers. Transparent communication between different customer networks at different locations through the provider networks is achieved through the Provider Bridges. In ISS, Layer 2 stacks act as Customer Bridges or Provider Bridges. An administrator chooses the type of bridge during the system initialization or when the system is running.The following are the different kinds of Provider Bridges:

Q-in-Q Bridge is a type of proprietary bridge in which transparent communication between the customer networks is possible by using the customer tags.

In the current version of ISS, only Customer Bridges are supported.

Configuring Bridge Mode during System Initialization

During system initialization, ISS takes the value of bridge mode from issnvram.txt. The administrator configures the type of bridge in issnvram.txt.

Configuring Bridge Mode during System Runtime

The Bridge Mode is also configured at runtime. The following conditions apply when Bridge mode is changed during runtime:

  • Spanning Tree must be in shutdown state.
  • GARP Module must be shut down. GVRP and GMRP must be disabled.
  1. Execute the following commands to configure the VLAN counter status.
    perform the following:
    • Enter the Global Configuration Mode.
    iS5comm# configure terminal
    • Shut down the Spanning tree
    iS5comm(config)# shutdown spanning-tree
    • Disable the GVRP module.
    iS5comm(config)# set gvrp disable
    • Disable the GMRP module.
    iS5comm(config)# set gmrp disable
    • Shut down the GARP module.
    iS5comm(config)# shutdown garp
    • Change the Bridge Mode to Provider Core Bridge.
    iS5comm(config)# bridge-mode customer
    • Exit the Global Configuration Mode
    iS5comm(config)# exit
  2. View the configuration information by executing the following show command.
    show vlan device info
    Vlan device configurations
    --------------------------
    Vlan Status                       : Enabled
    Vlan Oper status                  : Enabled
    Gvrp status                       : Disabled
    Gmrp status                       : Disabled
    Gvrp Oper status                  : Disabled
    Gmrp Oper status                  : Disabled
    Mac-Vlan Status                   : Disabled
    Subnet-Vlan Status                : Disabled
    Protocol-Vlan Status              : Enabled
    Bridge Mode                       : Customer Bridge
    Base-Bridge Mode                  : Vlan Aware Bridge
    Traffic Classes                   : Enabled
    Vlan Operational Learning Mode    : IVL
    Hybrid Default Learning Mode      : IVL
    Version number                    : 1
    Max Vlan id                       : 4094
    Max supported vlans               : 4094
    Global mac learning status        : Enabled
    Filtering Utility Criteria        : Enabled
    Unicast mac learning limit        : 0