Spanning Tree Protocol (Stp)

Spanning Tree Protocol (Stp)

  • Submitted By: rlbck38
  • Date Submitted: 12/18/2011 8:35 AM
  • Category: Technology
  • Words: 509
  • Page: 3
  • Views: 292

Spanning Tree Protocol (STP) is a Layer 2 protocol that runs on bridges and switches
STP runs on bridges and switches that are 802.1D-compliant. There are different flavors of STP, but 802.1D is the most popular and widely implemented. You implement STP on bridges and switches in order to prevent loops in the network. Use STP in situations where you want redundant links, but not loops. Redundant links are as important as backups in the case of a failover in a network. A failure of your primary activates the backup links so that users can continue to use the network. Without STP on the bridges and switches, such a failure can result in a loop. If two connected switches run different flavors of STP, they require different timings to converge. When different flavors are used in the switches, it creates timing issues between Blocking and Forwarding states. Therefore, it is recommended to use the same flavors of STP
With STP, the key is for all the switches in the network to elect a root bridge that becomes the focal point in the network. All other decisions in the network, such as which port to block and which port to put in forwarding mode, are made from the perspective of this root bridge. A switched environment, which is different from a bridge environment, most likely deals with multiple VLANs. When you implement a root bridge in a switching network, you usually refer to the root bridge as the root switch. Each VLAN must have its own root bridge because each VLAN is a separate broadcast domain. The roots for the different VLANs can all reside in a single switch or in various switches.
A virtual LAN (VLAN) is a switched network that is logically segmented by function, project team, or application, without regard to the physical locations of the users. Any switch port can belong to a VLAN, and unicast, broadcast, and multicast packets are forwarded and flooded only to stations in the VLAN. Each VLAN is considered a logical network, and packets destined for...

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