Implement Spanning

Tree Protocols

Version 4.0 © 2006 Cisco Systems, Inc. All rights reserved. Cisco Public 1
Role of Redundancy in a Converged
Switched Network

© 2006 Cisco Systems, Inc. All rights reserved. Cisco Public 2

Layer 2 loops in a well managed network

© 2006 Cisco Systems, Inc. All rights reserved. Cisco Public 3

How STP works to Eliminate Layer 2
Loops in a Converged Network

© 2006 Cisco Systems, Inc. All rights reserved. Cisco Public 4

STP Algorithm - STP uses the Spanning Tree
Algorithm (STA) to determine which switch ports on a
network need to be configured for blocking to prevent
loops from occurring.

Root Bridge - serves as a reference point for all

spanning-tree calculations to determine which
redundant paths to block.
Root ports - Switch ports closest to the root bridge.
Designated ports - All non-root ports that are still
permitted to forward traffic on the network
Non-designated ports - All ports configured to be in a
blocking state to prevent loops.
© 2006 Cisco Systems, Inc. All rights reserved. Cisco Public 5
The Root Bridge

Bridge ID – Is compose of the following:

A. Priority Value
B. Extended System ID
C. MAC Address

BPDU - Message frame exchanged by switches for STP

to determine which switch has the lowest bridge ID
(BID) on the network.
-The switch with the lowest BID automatically
becomes the root bridge for the STA calculations.

© 2006 Cisco Systems, Inc. All rights reserved. Cisco Public 6

© 2006 Cisco Systems, Inc. All rights reserved. Cisco Public 7
Port Cost

 Sum of all the port costs along the path to the root
bridge.
 The paths with the lowest path cost become the
preferred path, and all other redundant paths are
blocked.

© 2006 Cisco Systems, Inc. All rights reserved. Cisco Public 8

BPDU Process

 Initially, each switch identifies itself as the root bridge.

 Each switch maintains local information about its own
BID, the root ID, and the path cost to the root.
 When adjacent switches receive a BPDU frame, they
compare the root ID from the BPDU frame with the
local root ID.
 If the root ID in the BPDU is lower than the local root
ID, the switch updates the local root ID and the ID in its
BPDU messages.
 If the local root ID is lower than the root ID received in
the BPDU frame, the BPDU frame is discarded.

© 2006 Cisco Systems, Inc. All rights reserved. Cisco Public 9

Bridge ID

 Bridge Priority - The switch with the lowest priority,

which means lowest BID, becomes the root bridge (the
lower the priority value, the higher the priority).
 Extended System ID – Added to the bridge priority
value.
 MAC Address - The MAC address with the lowest
hexadecimal value is considered to be the preferred
root bridge.

© 2006 Cisco Systems, Inc. All rights reserved. Cisco Public 10

Configuring Bridge Priority

© 2006 Cisco Systems, Inc. All rights reserved. Cisco Public 11

Configuring Port Priority

-The port priority values range from 0 - 240, in

increments of 16.

© 2006 Cisco Systems, Inc. All rights reserved. Cisco Public 12

Port States

Blocking - The port is a non-designated port and does not

participate in frame forwarding.
Listening - the switch port is not only receiving BPDU frames, it is
also transmitting its own BPDU frames
Learning - The port prepares to participate in frame forwarding and
begins to populate the MAC address table.
Forwarding - The port is considered part of the active topology and
forwards frames and also sends and receives BPDU frames.
Disabled - The Layer 2 port does not participate in spanning tree
and does not forward frames.

© 2006 Cisco Systems, Inc. All rights reserved. Cisco Public 13

Cisco PortFast Technology
 When a switch port configured with PortFast is
configured as an access port, that port transitions from
blocking to forwarding state immediately, bypassing the
typical STP listening and learning states.

© 2006 Cisco Systems, Inc. All rights reserved. Cisco Public 14

How STP works to Eliminate Layer 2
Loops in a Converged Network
 role of STP port states and BPDU timers in the
operation of STP

© 2006 Cisco Systems, Inc. All rights reserved. Cisco Public 15

How the STP Algorithm Uses Three Steps to
Converge on a Loop-Free Topology
 STP decision sequence is used to elect a root bridge
for a network

© 2006 Cisco Systems, Inc. All rights reserved. Cisco Public 16

How the STP Algorithm Uses Three Steps to
Converge on a Loop-Free Topology
 process of electing a root port on a switch

© 2006 Cisco Systems, Inc. All rights reserved. Cisco Public 17

How the STP Algorithm Uses Three Steps to
Converge on a Loop-Free Topology
 process of electing designated ports and non-
designated ports on a switch

© 2006 Cisco Systems, Inc. All rights reserved. Cisco Public 18

Implement Rapid per VLAN Spanning
Tree (rapid PVST+) in a LAN
 Summarize the features of the PVST+, RSTP and rapid
PVST+ variants of STP

© 2006 Cisco Systems, Inc. All rights reserved. Cisco Public 19

Implement Rapid per VLAN Spanning
Tree (rapid PVST+) in a LAN
 features of PVST+

© 2006 Cisco Systems, Inc. All rights reserved. Cisco Public 20

Implement Rapid per VLAN Spanning
Tree (rapid PVST+) in a LAN
 features of RSTP

© 2006 Cisco Systems, Inc. All rights reserved. Cisco Public 21

Implement Rapid per VLAN Spanning
Tree (rapid PVST+) in a LAN
 RSTP edge ports

© 2006 Cisco Systems, Inc. All rights reserved. Cisco Public 22

Implement Rapid per VLAN Spanning
Tree (rapid PVST+) in a LAN
 RSTP link types

© 2006 Cisco Systems, Inc. All rights reserved. Cisco Public 23

Summary
 Spanning Tree Protocol (STP) is used to prevent loops
from being formed on redundant networks
 STP uses different port states & timers to logically
prevent loops
 There is at least one switch in a network that serves as
the root bridge
Root bridge is elected using information found in BPDU frames

 Root ports are determined by the spanning tree

algorithm and are closest to the root bridge

© 2006 Cisco Systems, Inc. All rights reserved. Cisco Public 24

Summary

 STP lengthy convergence time (50 seconds) facilitated

the development of:
RSTP
convergence time is slightly over 6 seconds
Rapid PVST+
adds VLAN support to RSTP
is the preferred spanning-tree protocol on a Cisco switch

netowrk

© 2006 Cisco Systems, Inc. All rights reserved. Cisco Public 25

© 2006 Cisco Systems, Inc. All rights reserved. Cisco Public 26