ZyXEL Communications AAM1212, User Manual

Page: 128 / 288

AAM1212 User’s Guide
Chapter 14 Spanning Tree Protocol 127
C
H A P T E R
14
Spanning Tree Protocol
This chapter introduces the Rapid Spanning Tree Protocol (RSTP).
14.1 RSTP (Rapid Spanning Tree Protocol) and STP
(Spanning Tree Protocol)
RSTP adds rapid reconfiguration capability to STP. The switch supports RSTP and the earlier
STP. RSTP and STP detect and break network loops and provide backup links between
switches, bridges or routers. They allow a device to interact with other RSTP or STP-aware
devices in your network to ensure that only one path exists between any two stations on the
network. The switch uses RSTP by default but can still interoperate with STP switches
(although without RSTP's benefits).
The root bridge is the base of the spanning tree; it is the bridge with the lowest identifier value
(MAC address). Path cost is the cost of transmitting a frame onto a LAN through that port. It is
assigned according to the speed of the link to which a port is attached. The slower the media,
the higher the cost - see the following table.
On each bridge, the root port is the port through which this bridge communicates with the root.
It is the port on this switch with the lowest path cost to the root (the root path cost). If there is
no root port, then this switch has been accepted as the root bridge of the spanning tree
network.
For each LAN segment, a designated bridge is selected. This bridge has the lowest cost to the
root among the bridges connected to the LAN.
Table 33 STP Path Costs
LINK SPEED RECOMMENDED VALUE RECOMMENDED RANGE ALLOWED RANGE
Path Cost 4Mbps 250 100 to 1000 1 to 65535
Path Cost 10Mbps 100 50 to 600 1 to 65535
Path Cost 16Mbps 62 40 to 400 1 to 65535
Path Cost 100Mbps 19 10 to 60 1 to 65535
Path Cost 1Gbps 4 3 to 10 1 to 65535
Path Cost 10Gbps 2 1 to 5 1 to 65535