Switching

The SNA switching component allows SNA applications to communicate with other such applications running either locally or remotely across a WAN. The SNA switching component uses a frame relay connection and RFC 1490 BAN encapsulated frames.

The switching component provides the following functionality:

• Dynamic route discovery for SNA session establishment
• Establishment of SNA connections between two different, but local, ports
• Establishment of SNA connections between a local port and a remote port
• Use of a MAC address cache to reduce explorer traffic

Once the session has been established, switching is not involved in the transfer of data. Data flows directly between local ports or between a local port and the virtual port, maintaining the connection across the network.