What element does the MAC address table primarily manage?

The MAC address table primarily manages Layer 2 addresses, which are the hardware addresses used at the data link layer of the OSI model. MAC addresses are unique identifiers assigned to network interfaces for communications on the physical network segment. The purpose of the MAC address table, also known as the Content Addressable Memory (CAM) table, is to facilitate the forwarding of frames between devices on the same local area network (LAN).

When a switch receives a frame, it examines the source MAC address and records it in the MAC address table along with the associated port. This allows the switch to intelligently forward frames only to the port where the destination MAC address is connected, rather than flooding all ports. This efficient management of Layer 2 addresses helps minimize unnecessary traffic on the network and increases overall performance.

In contrast, IP addresses, routing paths, and subnet masks pertain to Layer 3 protocols and higher, which are not managed by the MAC address table. Therefore, understanding that the MAC address table deals specifically with Layer 2 addresses is key to understanding how data is managed in Ethernet networks.