Configuring ethernet subinterfaces – Lucent Technologies PortMaster User Manual

Page 75

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Configuring the Ethernet Interface

4-7

Configuring Ethernet Subinterfaces

Configuring Ethernet Subinterfaces

With the subinterface feature of the ComOS, you can create up to 512 subinterfaces (the
total number of interfaces available on a PortMaster) on a single primary Ethernet
interface. Because you have the bandwidth of only a single Ethernet interface, however,
efficiency begins to degrade significantly when you add more than 8 subinterfaces.

Subinterfacing is essentially the segmenting of a single wire, or port, into multiple IP
networks. Instead of subnetting and routing, you can create a subinterface and then set
it up as you would a standard Ethernet interface. To avoid routing loops, however, you
must be sure not to create two subinterfaces in the same TCP/IP network on the same
port. Each Ethernet subinterface must have a unique network.

A drawback to subinterfacing is that it supports static routing only; IPX, RIP, OSPF,
packet filtering, and route propagation are not supported on subinterfaces.

You must configure the primary Ethernet interface before adding subinterfaces (see
“Setting General Ethernet Parameters” on page 4-1 for details). After you configure the
primary Ethernet interface, follow this procedure to add a subinterface.

1.

Create a subinterface.

Command> add subinterface name

This command adds an entry to the subinterface table, which you can then view
with the show subi command. Remove a subinterface from the subinterface table
with the del subi command.

2.

Associate the subinterface with a physical port.

Command> set subinterface name port-name portlabel

3.

Assign an IP address or and IP address and net mask to the subinterface.

Command> set subinterface name Ipaddress [/NM]|[Ipaddress/NM]

You can specify the netmask in the /NM or dotted decimal format. You can also
configure the IP address and netmask separately (see the PortMaster Command Line
Reference
for details).

4.

Set the broadcast for the interface.

Command> set subinterface name broadcast high|low

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