3Com 9100 manual Spanning Tree Protocol STP, Overview

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SPANNING TREE PROTOCOL (STP)

	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 the Switch 9100.
	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 9100 will be referred to as a bridge.
Overview of the	STP is a bridge-based mechanism for providing fault tolerance on
Spanning Tree	networks. STP allows you to implement parallel paths for network traffic,
Protocol	and ensure that:
	■ Redundant paths are disabled when the main paths are operational
	■ Redundant paths are enabled if the main path fails
	CAUTION: You should not configure any STP parameters unless you have
	considerable knowledge and experience with STP. The default STP
	parameters are adequate for most networks.
	Figure 13 shows a network containing three LAN segments separated by
	three bridges. Using this configuration, each segment can communicate
	with the others by using two paths.