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Catalyst 3750 SwitchSoftware Configuration Guide
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Chapter18 Configuring STP
Understanding Spanning-Tree Features

Disabled State

A Layer 2 interface in the disabled state does not participate in frame forwarding or in the spanning tree.
An interface in the disabled state is nonoperational.
A disabled interface performs these functions:
Discards frames received on the interface
Discards frames switched from another interface for forwarding
Does not learn addresses
Does not receive BPDUs
How a Switch or Port Becomes the Root Switch or Root Port
If all switches in a network are enabled with default spanning-tree settings, the switch with the lowest
MAC address becomes the root switch. In Figure18-3, Switch A is elected as the root switch because
the switch priority of all the switches is set to the default (32768) and SwitchA has the lowest MAC
address. However, because of traffic patterns, number of forwarding interfaces, or link types, SwitchA
might not be the ideal root switch. By increasing the priority (lowering the numerical value) of the ideal
switch so that it becomes the root switch, you force a spanning-tree recalculation to form a new topology
with the ideal switch as the root.
Figure18-3 Spanning-Tree Topology
When the spanning-tree topology is calculated based on default parameters, the path between source and
destination end stations in a switched network might not be ideal. For instance, connecting higher-speed
links to an interface that has a higher number than the root port can cause a root-port change. The goal
is to make the fastest link the root port.
For example, assume that one port on SwitchB is a Gigabit Ethernet link and that another port on
Switch B (a 10/100 link) is the root port. Network traffic might be more efficient over the Gigabit
Ethernet link. By changing the spanning-tree port priority on the Gigabit Ethernet port to a higher
priority (lower numerical value) than the root port, the Gigabit Ethernet port becomes the new root port.
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DP
DP
RP
DP
RP
DP
RP = Root Port
DP = Designated Port
DP
RP
DA
CB