EOTec 2104 User Manual
Ring Configurations
Unintended Rings Example
Refer to the diagram below. In this example, Ring Switches A and B have been software
configured for two rings each. Ring Switches C and D have been software configured for
one ring each. The physical connections for the two rings are shown in blue solid and
red dotted lines.
Because of the configuration rule for Ring Switches that each switch knows about all
rings that are attached to it, it would appear that the example above is legal. However,
this is not the case. There are actually more than two ring paths that are created. There
are multiple paths that message traffic can use to move from Switch A and back to
Switch A. The same applies to Switch B. These unintended Ring paths that Switch A
and Switch B don
’
t know about are labeled as Unintended Rings 3, 4, 5 and 6.
Since Ring Switch A and Ring Switch B don
’
t know about these extra ring paths, they
are not included in the ring algorithm for these switches. Paths that are not included in
the ring algorithm will result in harmful broadcast storms, which also would happen when
conventional switches are connected in a ring topology.
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