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Broadcast messages

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Packya

IS-IT--Management
Oct 18, 2000
29
US
Is there anyway that I can limit the broadcast message sent by a server to just the domain it belongs to.

I also use a software called IPMonitor. I am not sure if this is the trouble maker.

Please advice.
Thanks,
Prakash.
 
I think u need a switch or router.
What kind of broadcast are going out?
 
This is a complex question. What do you mean by domain in this case?

Broadcasts are a layer-2 (usually frame) issue. In an Ethernet enviornment, this is a frame with a destination MAC address of all F's. As a general rule, routers do not forward them and switches don't stop them. They go to every device in the same broadcast domain... IE: they stop when they hit a router but elsewise get flooded throughout the VLAN.

Controlling them usually involves splitting the broadcast domain into smaller VLANs and only putting machines that need to share common resources in a single VLAN. IE: If you don't want a server's broadcasts visible to a specfic set of users, put them into a different VLAN than the server.

The downside, is you then have to route from one VLAN to another which involves setting up network addressing to support this.

Some switch vendor's do include the ability to filter or throttle, but this is a case by case issue and creates some unique problems.

In general, broadcasts are not a problem unless they are at a relatively high rate...say 30% of capacity.
 
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