Which switching function forwards a frame to the port identified with a MAC address?

• A. Address Learning
• B. Store and Forward
• C. Forward Filter Decision
• D. Cut-through

Answer: (C)

Forwarding a frame to the port identified by its destination MAC address is the switch’s forwarding decision. When a frame arrives, the switch checks the destination MAC against its MAC address table (the CAM) to see which port leads to that device. If the destination MAC is known, the switch forwards the frame out only that specific port, which is the exact action described by the forwarding decision. If the destination isn’t in the table yet, the switch floods the frame to all ports except the entrance port, to learn where the destination sits.

Address learning is the process that builds that MAC table by recording the source MAC and the port it came from, enabling future frames to be switched directly to the correct port. Store-and-forward and cut-through describe how the switch handles the data as it moves through (whether it waits for the whole frame to be received and validated, or starts forwarding after reading just the destination MAC), not which port to forward to.