User guide

ExtremeWare 7.2e Installation and User Guide 191

11 Spanning Tree Protocol (STP)

This chapter covers the following topics:

• Overview of the Spanning Tree Protocol on page 191

• Spanning Tree Domains on page 192

• STP Configurations on page 194

• Per-VLAN Spanning Tree on page 197

• Rapid Spanning Tree Protocol on page 198

• STP Rules and Restrictions on page 209

• Configuring STP on the Switch on page 209

• Displaying STP Settings on page 212

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.

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.

• Redundant paths are enabled if the main path fails.

NOTE

STP is not supported in conjunction with ESRP.