Trunking Modes And Encapsulation Types - Cisco WS-C4003 - Catalyst 4000 Chassis Switch Software Configuration Manual

Understanding How VLAN Trunks Work
The Catalyst 4000, 2948G, and 2980G switches support IEEE 802.1Q—802.1Q trunking encalsulation.
You can configure a trunk on a single Fast or Gigabit Ethernet port or on a Fast or Gigabit EtherChannel
bundle. For more information about Fast and Gigabit EtherChannel, see
EtherChannel and Gigabit EtherChannel."
Fast Ethernet and Gigabit Ethernet trunk ports support five different trunking modes (see
In addition, on certain Fast Ethernet and Gigabit Ethernet ports you can specify whether the trunk will
use ISL encapsulation, 802.1Q encapsulation, or whether the encapsulation type will be autonegotiated.
For trunking to be autonegotiated on Fast Ethernet and Gigabit Ethernet ports, the ports must be in the
same VTP domain. However, you can use the on or nonegotiate mode to force a port to become a trunk,
even if it is in a different domain. For more information on VTP domains, see
VTP."
Trunk negotiation is managed by the Dynamic Trunking Protocol (DTP). DTP supports autonegotiation
of both ISL and 802.1Q trunks.
Trunking capabilities are hardware-dependent. For example, the Catalyst 4000 family switch modules
Note
support only 802.1Q encapsulation. To determine whether your hardware supports trunking, and to
determine which trunking encapsulations are supported, see your hardware documentation or use the
show port capabilities command.

Trunking Modes and Encapsulation Types

Table 11-1
on Fast Ethernet and Gigabit Ethernet ports.
Table 11-1 Fast Ethernet and Gigabit Ethernet Trunking Modes
Mode Function
on Puts the port into permanent trunking mode and negotiates to convert the link into a trunk link. The port
becomes a trunk port even if the neighboring port does not agree to the change.
off Puts the port into permanent nontrunking mode and negotiates to convert the link into a nontrunk link.
The port becomes a nontrunk port even if the neighboring port does not agree to the change.
desirable Makes the port actively attempt to convert the link to a trunk link. The port becomes a trunk port if the
neighboring port is set to on, desirable, or auto mode.
auto Enables the port to convert the link to a trunk link. The port becomes a trunk port if the neighboring port
is set to on or desirable mode. This is the default mode for Fast and Gigabit Ethernet ports.
nonegotiate Puts the port into permanent trunking mode but prevents the port from generating DTP frames. You must
configure the neighboring port manually as a trunk port to establish a trunk link.
Table 11-2
on Fast Ethernet and Gigabit Ethernet ports. You can use the show port capabilities command to
determine which encapsulation types a particular port supports.
Software Configuration Guide—Catalyst 4000 Family, Catalyst 2948G, Catalyst 2980G, Releases 6.3 and 6.4
11-2
Chapter 11
lists the trunking modes used with the set trunk command and describes how they function
lists the encapsulation type used with the set trunk command and describes how it functions
Configuring VLAN Trunks on Fast Ethernet and Gigabit Ethernet Ports
Chapter 6, "Configuring Fast
Table 11-1).
Chapter 9, "Configuring
78-12647-02