Reference Guide

Force10 Resilient Ring Protocol | 333
• The Master node ring port states are : blocking, pre-forwarding, forwarding, and disabled.
• The Transit node ring port states are: blocking, pre-forwarding, forwarding, and disabled/
• STP is disabled on ring interfaces.
• The Master node secondary port is in blocking state during Normal operation.
• Ring Health Frames (RHF)
• Hello RHF
— Sent at 500ms (hello interval)
— Transmitted and processed by Master node only
• Topology Change RHF
— Triggered updates
— Processed at all nodes
Important FRRP Concepts
Table 18-1, "FRRP Components," in Force10 Resilient Ring Protocol lists some important FRRP
concepts.
Table 18-1. FRRP Components
Concept Explanation
Ring ID Each ring has a unique 8-bit ring ID through which the ring is identified (e.g. FRRP 101
and FRRP 202 as shown in Figure 18-2.
Control VLAN Each ring has a unique Control VLAN through which tagged Ring Health Frames (RHF)
are sent. Control VLANs are used only for sending Ring Health Frames, and cannot be
used for any other purpose.
Member VLAN Each ring maintains a list of member VLANs. Member VLANs must be consistent
across the entire ring.
Port Role Each node has two ports for each ring: Primary and Secondary. The Master node
Primary port generates Ring Health Frames (RHF). The Master node Secondary port
receives the RHF frames. On Transit nodes, there is no distinction between a Primary
and Secondary interface when operating in the Normal state.
Ring Interface State Each interface (port) that is part of the ring maintains one of four states
• Blocking State: Accepts ring protocol packets but blocks data packets. LLDP,
FEFD, or other Layer 2 control packets are accepted. Only the master node
Secondary port can enter this state.
• Pre-Forwarding State: A transition state before moving to the Forward state.
Control traffic is forwarded but data traffic is blocked. The Master node Secondary
port transitions through this state during ring bring-up. All ports transition through
this state when a port comes up.
• Forwarding State—Both ring control and data traffic is passed. When the ring is in
Normal operation, the Primary port on the Master node and both Primary and
Secondary ports on the Transit nodes are in forwarding state. When the ring is
broken, all ring ports are in this state.
• Disabled State—When the port is disabled or down, or is not on the VLAN.