Specifications

ManualsBrandsEnterasys ManualsComputer equipmentN Standalone (NSA) Series

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Functions and Features Supported on Enterasys Devices

March 14, 2011 Page 4 of 29

MSTPcanautomaticallydetecttheversionofSpanningTreebeingusedonaLANandsendout

theequivalenttypeofBPDU.Inaddition,MSTPincorporatesaforceversionfeaturethatallows

youtoadministrativelyforceMSTPtobehaveasSTPorRSTP.

Functions and Features Supported on Enterasys Devices

Maximum STP Capacities

Bydefault,MultipleSpanningTreemodeisgloballyenabledonEnterasysswitching devicesand 

oneSpanningTreeisconfiguredasSpanningTreeID(SID)0.

Maximumdevicecapacities,includingthedefaultSpanningTreeare:

•4SIDinstancesonstackableandstandaloneswitchdevices,exceptfortheC5whichsupports

upto8

SIDinstances

•9SIDinstances onDFE‐GoldSeriesdevices

•65SIDinstancesonDFEPlatinumandDiamondSeriesdeviceswith256MBofmemory

installed(includingSID0)

•65SIDinstancesonS‐Seriesswitches(includingSID0)

•32SIDinstancesonK‐Seriesswitches

Enterasysswitchingdevicessupportadefault20‐bridgespan

fromtherootbridge.Youcan

configuresupportforamaximumdiameterofupto40bridgesfromtheSpanningTreerootas

describedin“DefiningtheMaximumAgeTime”onpage 15.

STP Features

EnterasysswitchingdevicesprovideseamlessSpanningTreefunctionalityby:

• CreatingasingleSpanningTreefromanyarrangementofswitchingorbridgingelements.

• Compensatingautomaticallyforthefailure,removal,oradditionofanyswitchingdevicein

anactivedatapath.

•Achievingportchangesinshorttimeintervals,whichestablishesastableactivetopology



quicklywithminimalnetworkdisturbance.

•Usingaminimumamountofcommunicationsbandwidthtoaccomplishtheoperationofthe

SpanningTreeProtocol.

• Reconfiguringtheactivetopologyinamannerthatistransparenttostationstransmittingand

receivingdatapackets.

• ManagingthetopologyinaconsistentandreproduciblemannerthroughtheuseofSpanning



TreeProtocolparameters.

•IncreasingsecurityandreliabilitywithSpanGuard,asdescribedbelowandin

“UnderstandingandConfiguringSpanGuard”onpage20.

Note: This guide describes features supported on the N-Series, S-Series, K-Series, stackable, and

standalone switch platforms. For information on X-Series support, refer to the X-Series

Configuration Guide.