How does UDP Broadcast Forwarding work?
Some applications rely on client requests sent as limited IP broadcasts addressed to a UDP application port. If a server for the application receives such a broadcast, the server can reply to the client. Since typical router behavior, by default, does not allow broadcast forwarding, a client’s UDP broadcast requests cannot reach a target server on a different subnet unless the router is configured to forward client UDP broadcasts to that server. A switch with routing enabled includes optional per-VLAN UDP broadcast forwarding that allows up to 256 server and/or subnet entries on the switch (16 entries per-VLAN). If an entry for a particular UDP port number is configured on a VLAN and an inbound UDP broadcast packet with that port number is received on the VLAN, then the switch routes the packet to the appropriate subnet. Each entry can designate either a single device or a single subnet. For configuration details, please see the Multicast and Routing Guide for these switches.