Specifications

ExtremeWare XOS 10.1 Concepts Guide 135
10 Spanning Tree Protocol (STP)
This chapter covers the following topics:
• Overview of the Spanning Tree Protocol on page 135
• Spanning Tree Domains on page 137
• STP Configurations on page 142
• Per-VLAN Spanning Tree on page148
• Rapid Spanning Tree Protocol on page 148
• STP Rules and Restrictions on page 159
• Configuring STP on the Switch on page 159
• Displaying STP Settings on page 163
Using the Spanning Tree Protocol (STP) functionality of the switch makes your network more fault
tolerant. The following sections explain more about STP and the STP features supported by
ExtremeWare XOS.
NOTE
STP is a part of the 802.1d bridge specification defined by the IEEE Computer Society. To explain STP
in terms used by the 802.1d specification, the switch will be referred to as a bridge.
Overview of the Spanning Tree Protocol
STP is a bridge-based mechanism for providing fault tolerance on networks. STP allows you to
implement parallel paths for network traffic, and ensure that redundant paths are:
• Disabled when the main paths are operational.
• Enabled if the main path fails.