Protocol at layer two for discovering and configuring network devices

摘要

A proprietary packet based on a standard IEEE 802.3 packet is used to discover and configure a layer 2 network device. The proprietary packet has a packet length field filled with an illegal length 0x3842. The proprietary packet is generally ignored because of its illegal length. A network equipped with a proprietary protocol recognizes the illegal length as the identification of the proprietary packet, interprets the packet and responds with its MAC address, subnet mask and the default gateway's IP address. By means of the proprietary packets having the illegal length 0x3842, a proprietary handshake protocol is established between a PC and network devices connected to an Ethernet hub for discovering and configuring the network devices.