It isn't really a layer 2 protocol (it's carried over layer 4), but it allows you to program a switch to make decisions on the traffic it sees based on layer 2 headers (as well as other headers and metadata such as the ingress port). For example, you could tell the switch if it sees a particular MAC address to always forward it out a particular port so that learning isn't required.
--Justin On Jan 28, 2013, at 8:38 AM, selen jia <selen...@gmail.com> wrote: > hi, > > Please explain so that my doubt z clear. i still didint got why is it layer 2 > protocol. > > selen > > On Mon, Jan 28, 2013 at 1:17 PM, Justin Pettit <jpet...@nicira.com> wrote: > You are correct that OpenFlow defines flow table entries that describe layers > 2, 3, and 4. You are also correct that the OpenFlow protocol is carried in > TCP/SSL, but that is completely independent of the behavior that it is > describing of the flow table. > > --Justin > > > On Jan 27, 2013, at 9:41 PM, selen jia <selen...@gmail.com> wrote: > > > Hi, > > > > Openflow is named as layer 2 protocol everywhere but as per my knowledge it > > works on l2 l3 and l4 fields and uses ssl or tls session which is on layer > > 4. > > > > Can someone clear my doubts plzzz. > > > > selen > > _______________________________________________ > > discuss mailing list > > discuss@openvswitch.org > > http://openvswitch.org/mailman/listinfo/discuss > > _______________________________________________ discuss mailing list discuss@openvswitch.org http://openvswitch.org/mailman/listinfo/discuss
