4.1 Protocol Support Tables

Protocol Support Tables

Protocol Hierarchy

The protocols are organized in a hierarchical structure that mirrors the OSI model while accommodating real-world protocol implementations and vendor-specific variations. This organization is reflected in the following protocol tables.

Link Layer Protocols

Protocol	Layer	Header Class	Reassembly Class	Options	Common Use	Notes
Ethernet	2	Ethernet	N/A	❌	Very Common	Including IEEE 802.3
VLAN	2	Vlan	N/A	❌	Common	Including 802.1Q and QinQ
PPP	2	Ppp	N/A	✅	Common	Including PPPoE
LLC	2	Llc	N/A	❌	Common	IEEE 802.2
ARP	2/3	Arp	N/A	❌	Very Common	Address mapping

Bridge and Spanning Tree Protocols

Protocol	Layer	Header Class	Reassembly Class	Options	Common Use	Notes
STP	2	Stp	N/A	✅	Very Common	IEEE 802.1D
RSTP	2	Rstp	N/A	✅	Very Common	IEEE 802.1w
MSTP	2	Mstp	N/A	✅	Common	IEEE 802.1s
PVST	2	Pvst	N/A	✅	Common	Cisco proprietary
PVST+	2	PvstPlus	N/A	✅	Common	Enhanced PVST
BPDU	2	Bpdu	N/A	✅	Very Common	Used by all STP variants

Link Control and Discovery Protocols

Protocol	Layer	Header Class	Reassembly Class	Options	Common Use	Notes
LACP	2	Lacp	N/A	✅	Common	IEEE 802.3ad/802.1AX
PAgP	2	Pagp	N/A	✅	Common	Cisco proprietary
LLDP	2	Lldp	N/A	✅	Very Common	IEEE 802.1AB
CDP	2	Cdp	N/A	✅	Very Common	Cisco device discovery
FDP	2	Fdp	N/A	✅	Less Common	Foundry/Brocade discovery
EDP	2	Edp	N/A	✅	Less Common	Extreme Networks discovery
DTP	2	Dtp	N/A	✅	Common	Cisco VLAN trunking
VTP	2	Vtp	N/A	✅	Common	Cisco VLAN management

Network Layer Protocols

Protocol	Layer	Header Class	Reassembly Class	Options	Common Use	Notes
IPv4	3	Ip4	IpReassembly	✅	Very Common	Base internet protocol
IPv6	3	Ip6	IpReassembly	✅	Very Common	Next generation IP
ICMPv4	3	Icmp4	N/A	✅	Very Common	Network diagnostics
ICMPv6	3	Icmp6	N/A	✅	Very Common	IPv6 network control
IGMP	3	Igmp	N/A	✅	Common	Multicast management
IPsec	3	Ipsec	N/A	✅	Common	AH and ESP protocols
GRE	3	Gre	N/A	✅	Common	Tunneling protocol

Transport Layer Protocols

Protocol	Layer	Header Class	Reassembly Class	Options	Common Use	Notes
TCP	4	Tcp	TcpReassembly	✅	Very Common	Connection-oriented transport
UDP	4	Udp	N/A	❌	Very Common	Connectionless transport
SCTP	4	Sctp	SctpReassembly	✅	Less Common	Multi-streaming transport
DCCP	4	Dccp	DccpReassembly	✅	Less Common	Congestion-controlled transport

Routing Protocols

Protocol	Layer	Header Class	Reassembly Class	Options	Common Use	Notes
OSPF	3/4	Ospf	N/A	✅	Common	Interior routing
BGP	4	Bgp	N/A	✅	Common	Exterior routing
RIP	4	Rip	N/A	✅	Less Common	Simple routing
EIGRP	3	Eigrp	N/A	✅	Common	Cisco routing
IGRP	3	Igrp	N/A	✅	Less Common	Legacy Cisco routing

Network Control and Redundancy

Protocol	Layer	Header Class	Reassembly Class	Options	Common Use	Notes
HSRP	3	Hsrp	N/A	✅	Common	Cisco redundancy
VRRP	3	Vrrp	N/A	✅	Common	Open standard redundancy
GLBP	3	Glbp	N/A	✅	Less Common	Cisco load balancing
UDLD	2	Udld	N/A	✅	Common	Cisco link monitoring
PIM	3	Pim	N/A	✅	Common	Multicast routing

Data Center and Fabric Protocols

Protocol	Layer	Header Class	Reassembly Class	Options	Common Use	Notes
FabricPath	2	FabricPath	N/A	✅	Common in DC	Data center fabric
TRILL	2	Trill	N/A	✅	Common in DC	Open standard fabric
SPB	2	Spb	SpbReassembly	✅	Common in DC	IEEE 802.1aq
VxLAN	2/3	Vxlan	N/A	✅	Common in DC	Network virtualization
NVGRE	2/3	Nvgre	N/A	✅	Common in DC	Microsoft virtualization
GENEVE	2/3	Geneve	N/A	✅	Common in DC	VMware/Open standard