4USING RESILIENCE FEATURES
Setting up resilience on your network helps protect cri tical links against
failure, protects against network loops, and reduces network d owntime
to a minimum.
This chapter explains the features supported by the Switch that provide
resilience for your network. It covers the following topic s:
■Spanning Tree Protocol (STP)
■Rapid Spanning Tree Protocol (RSTP) — an enhanced STP feature.
For detailed descriptions of the web interface operations and the
command line interface (CLI) commands tha t you require to manage the
Switch please refer to the Management Interface Reference Guide
supplied in HTML format on the CD-ROM that accompanies your Switch.
Spanning Tree
Protocol (STP)
The Spanning Tree Protocol (STP) makes your network more resilient to
link failure and also provides a protection from loops — one of the major
causes of broadcast storms. STP is enabled by default on your Switch.
To be fully effective, STP must be enabled on all Switches in your
network.
The following sections explain more about STP and the protocol features
supported by your Switch. They cover the following topics:
■What is STP?
■How STP Works
■Using STP on a Network with Multiple VLANs
The protocol is a part of the IEEE 802.1D bridg e specification. To explain
STP more effectively, your Switch will be referred to as a bridge.