What action takes place when a frame entering a switch has a unicast destination MAC address in the MAC address table?

What action takes place when a frame entering a switch has a unicast destination MAC address in the MAC address table?

• A. The switch drops the frame
• B. The switch floods the frame to all ports
• C. The switch forwards the frame out the specified port
• D. The switch records the frame in the MAC table

Answer: (C)

When a frame with a unicast destination MAC address arrives at a switch, the device consults its MAC address table to determine the appropriate action. If the destination MAC address is found in the table, the switch knows precisely which port is associated with that address. As a result, the switch forwards the frame out of the specified port that leads to the destination device. This efficient process ensures that the network traffic is minimized and is sent only to the intended recipient, enhancing overall network performance. This behavior illustrates the fundamental functionality of switches, which is to intelligently direct traffic based on learned MAC addresses, thereby improving bandwidth usage and reducing unnecessary traffic on other ports.

When a frame with a unicast destination MAC address arrives at a switch, the device consults its MAC address table to determine the appropriate action. If the destination MAC address is found in the table, the switch knows precisely which port is associated with that address. As a result, the switch forwards the frame out of the specified port that leads to the destination device. This efficient process ensures that the network traffic is minimized and is sent only to the intended recipient, enhancing overall network performance.

This behavior illustrates the fundamental functionality of switches, which is to intelligently direct traffic based on learned MAC addresses, thereby improving bandwidth usage and reducing unnecessary traffic on other ports.