D
ESCRIPTION
OF
S
OFTWARE
F
EATURES
1-6
Spanning Tree Algorithm – The switch supports these spanning tree
protocols:
Spanning Tree Protocol (STP, IEEE 802.1D) – This protocol provides
loop detection. When there are multiple physical paths between segments,
this protocol will choose a single path and disable all others to ensure that
only one route exists between any two stations on the network. This
prevents the creation of network loops. However, if the chosen path
should fail for any reason, an alternate path will be activated to maintain
the connection.
Rapid Spanning Tree Protocol (RSTP, IEEE 802.1w) – This protocol
reduces the convergence time for network topology changes to about 3 to
5 seconds, compared to 30 seconds or more for the older IEEE 802.1D
STP standard. It is intended as a complete replacement for STP, but can
still interoperate with switches running the older standard by automatically
reconfiguring ports to STP-compliant mode if they detect STP protocol
messages from attached devices.
Multiple Spanning Tree Protocol (MSTP, IEEE 802.1s) – This protocol is
a direct extension of RSTP. It can provide an independent spanning tree
for different VLANs. It simplifies network management, provides for even
faster convergence than RSTP by limiting the size of ea ch region, and
prevents VLAN members from being segmented from the rest of the
group (as sometimes occurs with IEEE 802.1D STP).
Virtual LANs – The switch suppor ts up to 255 VLANs. A Virtual LAN is
a collection of network nodes that share the same collision domain
regardless of their physical location or connection point in the network.
The switch supports tagged VLANs based on the IEEE 802.1Q st andard.
Members of VLAN groups can be dynamically learned via GVRP, or ports
can be manually assigned to a specific set of VLANs. This allows the
switch to restrict traffic to the VLAN groups to which a user has been
assigned. By segmenting your network into VLANs, you can:
• Eliminate broadcast storms which severely degrade performance in a
flat network.