Switch client broadcast

[shrkntagarwal]

Does a client broadcasts to a Switch or does it unicast? If it broadcasts then there can be multiple switches in a network that can receive the broadcast hence it could be a collision.

 

[failboat]

it depends on the program and how it's written. if the switch doesn't know where to send a frame it will broadcast in order to learn the mac address, eg adding a new device to the network. cascading switches works in the same way. loopback is possible but modern equipment has STP or something similar to prevent loopbacks.