Install guide

40 Release Note
Rapier Switch Software Release 2.1.0
C613-10200-01 Rev A
Switch port states
A switch port may be in one of five states (Table 13), determined dynamically
by STP (“Spanning Tree Protocol (STP)” on page 38).
To display the state of the about switch ports (Figure 17 on page 45), use the
command:
SHOW STP PORT=port-list
Multiple Spanning Trees
A Rapier switch in default LAN configuration has a default Spanning Tree
enabled, spanning only a single default VLAN, to which all ports belong. The
switches in the LAN run a distributed Spanning Tree Algorithm to create the
Spanning Tree.
In a network with more VLANs configured, all VLANs belong by default to the
default Spanning Tree called default. This configuration will suit some LANs. In
order to distribute traffic more evenly over multiple paths, Multiple Spanning
Trees can be created, with each Spanning Tree encompassing multiple VLANs.
Spanning Tree Protocol entities, called STPs here, operate independently of
each other; each STP has its own Root Bridge and active path. Once an STP is
created, one or more VLANs can be assigned to it.
If creating multiple STPs in a network, consider the following:
■
A new instance of the Spanning Tree Protocol (STP) need not be created
identical to the topology of the VLAN(s). All VLANs are aligned along the
Spanning Tree from which they are formed; a given VLAN is defined by a
subset of the topology of the Spanning Tree upon which it operates.
■
The topology of the VLAN is dynamic. The structure of the VLAN may
change due to new devices requesting or releasing the services available
via the VLAN.
■
Any VLAN can only belong to a single STP.
■
Any port in the network must only belong to a single STP. If a port is a
member of multiple VLANs, then all those VLANs must belong to the
Table 13: Switch port states
State Meaning
DISABLED Switching operations are disabled on the port. In particular,
the Forwarding Process and the Spanning Tree entity are
disabled for transmit and receive operations on the port.
LISTENING The port is enabled for receiving frames only.
LEARNING The port is enabled for receiving frames only, and the
Forwarding Process is placing new source address
information in the station map.
FORWARDING The normal state for a switch port. The Forwarding Process
and the Spanning Tree entity are enabled for transmit and
receive operations on the port.
BLOCKING The Spanning Tree entity has disabled the Forwarding
process for transmit and receive operations on the port, but
the Spanning Tree entity itself remains enabled for transmit
and receive operations on the port.