LLDP - (Link Layer Discovery Protocol)
The Link Layer Discovery Protocol (LLDP) is a vendor neutral layer 2 neighbor discovery
protocol that can be used by a station attached to a specific LAN segment to advertise its identity and capabilities and to
also receive same from a physically adjacent layer 2 peer.
Similar to cdp (Cisco discovery protocol) which is proprietary but better than cdp in capabilities
and is also an open standard. Because it is an open standard more and more vendors will be adopting it and customers will
not be locked to a particular vendor.
IEEE standard - 802.1AB
How LLDP is helpful?
A network architecture which runs on LLDP can discover any vendor devices which support LLDP, identify their
capabilities and coordinate with them to build an interactive network.
LLDP also lets the network devices to advertise its capability and network parameters (LLDP MED)
E.g.: An LLDP capable switch can automatically discover a LLDP capable IP phone, assign a voice vlan to it,
assign QOS properties and bandwidth and also set voice gateway parameters.
