Chapter 18 Configuring STP

Understanding Spanning-Tree Features

Spanning Tree and Redundant Connectivity

You can create a redundant backbone with spanning tree by connecting two switch interfaces to another device or to two different devices, as shown in Figure 18-4. Spanning tree automatically disables one interface but enables it if the other one fails. If one link is high-speed and the other is low-speed, the low-speed link is always disabled. If the speeds are the same, the port priority and port ID are added together, and spanning tree disables the link with the lowest value.

Figure 18-4 Spanning Tree and Redundant Connectivity

Active link

Blocked link

Workstations

101226

You can also create redundant links between switches by using EtherChannel groups. For more information, see Chapter 37, “Configuring EtherChannels and Link-State Tracking.”

Spanning-Tree Address Management

IEEE 802.1D specifies 17 multicast addresses, ranging from 0x00180C2000000 to 0x0180C2000010, to be used by different bridge protocols. These addresses are static addresses that cannot be removed.

Regardless of the spanning-tree state, each switch in the stack receives but does not forward packets destined for addresses between 0x0180C2000000 and 0x0180C200000F.

If spanning tree is enabled, the CPU on the switch or on each switch in the stack receives packets destined for 0x0180C2000000 and 0x0180C2000010. If spanning tree is disabled, the switch or each switch in the stack forwards those packets as unknown multicast addresses.

Accelerated Aging to Retain Connectivity

The default for aging dynamic addresses is 5 minutes, the default setting of the mac address-tableaging-timeglobal configuration command. However, a spanning-tree reconfiguration can cause many station locations to change. Because these stations could be unreachable for 5 minutes or more during a reconfiguration, the address-aging time is accelerated so that station addresses can be dropped from the address table and then relearned. The accelerated aging is the same as the forward-delay parameter value (spanning-tree vlan vlan-idforward-timeseconds global configuration command) when the spanning tree reconfigures.

Catalyst 3750-E and 3560-E Switch Software Configuration Guide

 

OL-9775-02

18-9

 

 

 

Page 445
Image 445
Cisco Systems 3750E manual Spanning Tree and Redundant Connectivity, Spanning-Tree Address Management, 18-9