This topic was migrated from the BotBlox ticketing system after being summarized and anonymized.
Question:
We’re thinking of integrating a gigablox switch (currently BB-GGB-C-CO2) into our products, and a client has asked if they can identify all MAC addresses that will be provided by our products.
As the switch will be the route by which client will connect to our product we also need to know if any MAC addresses are generated by the gigablox switch. Or preferably that it generates no traffic of it’s own.
Answer:
The BB-GGB-C-CO2 (GigaBlox) operates as an unmanaged Layer 2 Ethernet switch. As such:
- It does not assign or generate MAC addresses for connected devices.
- Each end device connected to the switch retains and uses its own factory-assigned MAC address.
The switch itself does have an internal MAC address, but:
- This is only used internally by the switch silicon (e.g., for management functions within the chip).
- It is not exposed or visible on the network under normal operation.
- It does not appear as a separate node to your client.
No user traffic is generated by the switch itself. GigaBlox is designed to be transparent at Layer 2 and only forwards Ethernet frames between ports. In normal operation, your client will only see the MAC addresses of the devices connected through the switch, nothing additional from GigaBlox.
To summarise:
From your client’s perspective, the switch behaves as a transparent bridge. They will only need to account for the MAC addresses of your product’s endpoints, not the switch itself.
(TS2604-0152)