Switch Management and Operating Concepts

•On the switch level, STP calculates the Bridge Identifier for each switch and then sets the Root Bridge and the Designated Bridges.

•On the port level, STP sets the Root Port and the Designated Ports.

The factory default settings should cover the majority of installations. Setting up STP using values other than the defaults can be complex. Therefore, we recommend that you keep the default factory settings, and STP will automatically assign root bridges/ports and block loop connections.

Influencing STP to choose a particular switch as the root bridge using the Priority setting, or influencing STP to choose a particular port to block using the Port Priority and Port Cost settings is, however, relatively simple.

For example, if all switches have STP enabled with default settings, the switch with the lowest MAC address in the network becomes the root switch. By increasing the priority (lowering the priority number) of the best switch, STP can be forced to select the best switch as the root switch.

STP Parameters for the Switch Level

The following are the user-configurable STP parameters for the switch level.

Parameter

Description

Default Value

 

 

 

 

Specifies the combination of the user-set priority and

 

 

the switch's MAC address. The bridge identifier

 

Bridge Identifier

consists of two parts: a 16-bit priority and a 48-bit

32768 + MAC address

 

Ethernet MAC address. The only portion that a user

 

 

can configure is the priority.

 

 

 

 

 

Specifies the relative priority for each switch. Lower

 

Priority

numbers specify a higher priority and a greater chance

32768

 

of a given switch being elected as the root bridge.

 

 

 

 

 

Specifies the length of time between broadcasts of the

 

 

hello message by the switch. It can be set from 1 — 10

 

Hello Time

seconds. This interval is not used until the switch

2 seconds

becomes (if ever) the root bridge.

 

 

 

The Hello Time parameter cannot be longer than the

 

 

Max Age parameter.

 

 

 

 

 

Measures the age of a received BPDU for a port, and

 

Max Age

ensures that the BPDU is discarded when its age

20 seconds

exceeds the value of the Max Age parameter.

 

 

 

It can be set from 6—40 seconds.

 

 

 

 

 

Specifies the time a port can remaining in the listening

 

Forward Delay

state while moving from the blocking state to the

15 seconds

forwarding state.

 

 

 

It can be set from 4—30 seconds.

 

 

 

 

Use the following formulas when setting these parameters:

•Max Age <= 2 x (Forward Delay -1 second)

•Max Age >= 2 x (Hello Time + 1 second)

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Intel® NetStructure™ ZT 8101 10/100 Ethernet Switch User’s Manual

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Intel ZT 8101 10/100 user manual STP Parameters for the Switch Level, Parameter Description Default Value
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ZT 8101 10/100 specifications

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