Cabletron Systems 7C04-R, 7C03 Spanning Tree Port Parameters Window, Priority Port, Path Cost

Using the 7C0x SmartSwitch Bridge View

The Spanning Tree Port Parameters Window

The Spanning Tree Algorithm ensures that only a single bridge path exists between any two end stations in a network designed with multiple bridges placed in parallel; it also ensures that on any given bridge, only one port path exists between the bridge and any one network segment. In the Spanning Tree Port Table you can view and edit the Spanning Tree values for individual ports; the Spanning Tree Port parameters affect a port’s participation in the Spanning Tree.

NOTE

Setting Spanning Tree Port Parameters only affects port selection on a particular bridge; settings do not affect the 7C0x SmartSwitch’s device-level priority in the network’s Spanning Tree.

To open the Spanning Tree Port Table window:

1.Display the Device menu by clicking on the Front Panel button.

2.Drag down to Spanning Tree to open the Spanning Tree Protocol window.

3.In the Spanning Tree Protocol window, click on the Spanning Tree Port Table button.

or

1.In the Bridge Traffic View, click mouse button 3 on a port to display the Port menu and drag down to Spanning Tree.

The scroll list at the top of the window lists each bridge port available on the device and its current port priority. Below the Port List, the window includes the following:

Priority (Port)

If two or more ports on the same bridge are connected to the same network segment, each port will receive the same device-level values for Root ID, Root Cost, and Bridge ID in Configuration BPDUs. In this case, the BPDU’s port-level information—the transmitting port’s identifier and its manageable Priority component— is used to determine which port on this bridge will be the Designated Port for that segment. A lower number indicates a higher priority; the default is 80. The allowable range is 0 to FF.

Path Cost

The portion of the total path cost associated with this port. Lowering a port’s Path Cost makes a port more competitive in the selection of the Designated Port. The default value is 100 for Cabletron bridges. The allowable range is from 1 to 65535.

The Spanning Tree Port Parameters Window 6-25