Basic MAC Lockdown deployment.

In the Model Network Topology shown above, the switches that are connected to the edge of the network each have one and only one connection to the core network. This means each switch has only one path by which data can travel to Server A. You can use MAC Lockdown to specify that all traffic intended for Server A's MAC Address must go through the one port on the edge switches. That way, users on the edge can still use other network resources, but they cannot "spoof" Server A and hijack data traffic which is intended for that server alone.

The key points for this Model Topology are:
  • The Core Network is separated from the edge by the use of switches which have been locked for security.

  • All switches connected to the edge (outside users) each have only one port they can use to connect to the Core Network and then to Server A.

  • Each switch has been configured with MAC Lockdown so that the MAC Address for Server A has been locked to one port per switch that can connect to the Core and Server A.

Using this setup, Server A can be moved around within the core network, and yet MAC Lockdown still prevents a user at the edge from hijacking its address and stealing data.

Please note that in this scenario a user with bad intentions at the edge can still "spoof" the address for Server A and send out data packets that look as though they came from Server A. The good news is that because MAC Lockdown has been used on the switches on the edge, any traffic that is sent back to Server A is be sent to the proper MAC Address because MAC Lockdown has been used. The switches at the edge do not send Server A's data packets anywhere but the port connected to Server A. (Data would not be allowed to go beyond the edge switches.)

CAUTION:

Using MAC Lockdown still does not protect against a hijacker within the core! In order to protect against someone spoofing the MAC Address for Server A inside the Core Network, you would have to lock down each and every switch inside the Core Network as well, not just on the edge.