Chapter 14 Switch Configuration

Table 66 Switch Configuration: Multiple STP Conf. (continued)

LABEL

DESCRIPTION

Hello Time

This is the maximum time (in seconds) a device can wait without receiving a BPDU

 

before attempting to reconfigure. All device ports (except for designated ports) should

 

receive BPDUs at regular intervals. Any port that ages out STP information (provided

 

in the last BPDU) becomes the designated port for the attached LAN. If it is a root

 

port, a new root port is selected from among the device ports attached to the network.

 

The allowed range is 6 to 40 seconds (20 is the default).

 

 

Max Age

This is the time interval in seconds between BPDU (Bridge Protocol Data Units)

 

configuration message generations (by all devices in RSTP or the root device in STP).

 

The allowed range is 1 to 10 seconds (2 is the default).

 

 

Forwarding

This is the maximum time (in seconds) a device will wait before changing states. This

Delay

delay is required because every device must receive information about topology

 

changes before it starts to forward frames. In addition, each port needs time to listen

 

for conflicting information that would make it return to a blocking state; otherwise,

 

temporary data loops might result. The allowed range is 4 to 30 seconds (15 is the

 

default).

 

 

Rapid Spanning Tree Protocol

 

 

Active

Select this option to enable STP.

 

 

Bridge Priority

Priority is used in determining the root device, root port and designated port. The

 

device with the highest priority (lowest numeric value) becomes the RSTP root device.

 

If all devices have the same priority, the device with the lowest MAC address will then

 

become the root device. The allowed range is 0 to 65535 (32768 is the default).

 

The lower the numeric value you assign, the higher the priority for this bridge.

 

Priority determines the root bridge, which in turn determines Hello Time, Max Age

 

and Forward Delay.

Max Age

This is the maximum time (in seconds) a device can wait without receiving a BPDU

 

before attempting to reconfigure. All device ports (except for designated ports) should

 

receive BPDUs at regular intervals. Any port that ages out STP information (provided

 

in the last BPDU) becomes the designated port for the attached LAN. If it is a root

 

port, a new root port is selected from among the device ports attached to the network.

 

The allowed range is 6 to 40 seconds (20 is the default).

 

 

Hello Time

This is the time interval in seconds between BPDU (Bridge Protocol Data Units)

 

configuration message generations (by all devices in RSTP or the root device in STP).

 

The allowed range is 1 to 10 seconds (2 is the default).

 

 

Forwarding

This is the maximum time (in seconds) a device will wait before changing states. This

Delay

delay is required because every device must receive information about topology

 

changes before it starts to forward frames. In addition, each port needs time to listen

 

for conflicting information that would make it return to a blocking state; otherwise,

 

temporary data loops might result. The allowed range is 4 to 30 seconds (15 is the

 

default).

 

 

Apply

Click Apply to save your changes back to the switch.

 

 

14.4 Link Aggregation

Link aggregation (trunking) is the grouping of physical ports into one logical higher-capacity link. You may want to trunk ports if for example, it is cheaper to use multiple lower-speed links than to under-utilize a high-speed, but more costly, single-port link.

However, the more ports you aggregate then the fewer available ports you have. A link aggregation group is one logical link containing multiple ports.

The first port must be physically connected when forming a trunk group.

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NetAtlas Workgroup User’s Guide