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Ethernet Switch MAC Address Learning

Interactive 3D Layer-2 Ethernet switch: watch it learn source MAC addresses port by port, flood frames for unknown destinations, forward unicast once it knows the way, and age stale entries out of its forwarding table.

Networks & Graph Theory3DEasy60 FPS📱 Mobile-adapted⇄ 2D version

Every switched Ethernet network runs on one deceptively simple algorithm: a switch learns which port a MAC address lives behind by watching the source address of every frame that arrives, floods any frame whose destination it hasn't learned yet, and forwards everything else straight to the one port that needs it. This simulator renders a real six-port switch in 3D — send a frame between any two of six hosts and watch the switch's forwarding table (CAM) fill in live, see an unknown destination trigger a flood to every other port, then watch the very next frame between the same pair travel as a clean unicast. An adjustable aging timer periodically evicts stale entries, so a host that's gone quiet gets flooded to again exactly the way it does on real hardware.

⚙ Under the hood

Interactive 3D Layer-2 Ethernet switch that learns source MAC addresses port by port, floods frames to unknown destinations, forwards unicast once it knows the way, and ages stale entries out of its forwarding table.

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3D · Three.js / WebGL renderer · 60 FPS target · runs fully client-side, no install