If a switch does not have a MAC address entry in its CAM table, it will...

If a switch does not have a MAC address entry in its CAM table, it will...

• A. Forward the frame to all its interfaces
• B. Drop the frame
• C. Send to a default gateway
• D. Encrypt the frame

Answer: (A)

When a switch receives a frame and the destination MAC isn’t yet known in its CAM (Content Addressable Memory) table, it can’t decide a single destination port. To ensure delivery within the local network, it floods the frame out of every port in the same VLAN except the port it was received on. This way, the frame reaches the destination if it’s on the same network segment, and once the destination device responds, its MAC gets learned and future frames can be unicast directly to the correct port. The other options don’t describe this behavior: dropping would block communication, routing to a gateway is a layer-3 action, and encryption isn’t applied just because the destination MAC is unknown.

When a switch receives a frame and the destination MAC isn’t yet known in its CAM (Content Addressable Memory) table, it can’t decide a single destination port. To ensure delivery within the local network, it floods the frame out of every port in the same VLAN except the port it was received on. This way, the frame reaches the destination if it’s on the same network segment, and once the destination device responds, its MAC gets learned and future frames can be unicast directly to the correct port. The other options don’t describe this behavior: dropping would block communication, routing to a gateway is a layer-3 action, and encryption isn’t applied just because the destination MAC is unknown.