Linux Bridge Utilities

Linux Bridge Utilities is an easily executable software meant for connecting two Ethernet segments together in a protocol independent way. Its functionality relies heavily on Ethernet address-based forwarding rather than IP address-based forwarding like a router. Its Layer 2-based packet forwarding allows for protocol transparency. The Linux bridge code implements a subset of the ANSI/IEEE 802.1d standard which was first done in Linux 2.2 and was later rewritten by Lennert Buytenhek. The code for bridging has been integrated into 2.4 and 2.6 kernel series.

When it comes to manually configuring network cards, Linux Bridge Utilities obliges the user to make sure both network cards are set up and working properly before proceeding. The user should avoid setting the IP address and allowing startup scripts to run DHCP on the ethernet interfaces since the IP address has to be set after the bridge has been configured. The `ifconfig` command should show both network cards, and they should be down.

In most cases, the bridge code is built as a module, which is properly configured and installed to get automatically loaded on the first `brctl` command. To show a small command synopsis, the bridge-utilities should have been correctly built, and the kernel and bridge-module should be OK. Linux Bridge Utilities is a great software that has been designed to offer a smooth and easy-to-use experience to its users.