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Chapter 7 Spanning Tree
STP (Spanning Tree Protocol), subject to IEEE 802.1D standard, is to disbranch a ring network in
the Data Link layer in a local network. Devices running STP discover loops in the network and block
ports by exchanging information, in that way, a ring network can be disbranched to form a
tree-topological ring-free network to prevent packets from being duplicated and forwarded endlessly
in the network.
BPDU (Bridge Protocol Data Unit) is the protocol data that STP and RSTP use. Enough
information is carried in BPDU to ensure the spanning tree generation. STP is to determine the
topology of the network via transferring BPDUs between devices.
To implement spanning tree function, the switches in the network transfer BPDUs between each
other to exchange information and all the switches supporting STP receive and process the
received BPDUs. BPDUs carry the information that is needed for switches to figure out the
spanning tree.
STP Elements
Bridge ID（Bridge Identifier）: Indicates the value of the priority and MAC address of the bridge.
Bridge ID can be configured and the switch with the lower bridge ID has the higher priority.
Root Bridge: Indicates the switch has the lowest bridge ID. Configure the best PC in the ring
network as the root bridge to ensure best network performance and reliability.
Designated Bridge: Indicates the switch has the lowest path cost from the switch to the root
bridge in each network segment. BPDUs are forwarded to the network segment through the
designated bridge. The switch with the lowest bridge ID will be chosen as the designated bridge.
Root Path Cost: Indicates the sum of the path cost of the root port and the path cost of all the
switches that packets pass through. The root path cost of the root bridge is 0.
Bridge Priority: The bridge priority can be set to a value in the range of 0–61440. The lower value
priority has the higher priority. The switch with the higher priority has more chance to be chosen as
the root bridge.
Root Port: Indicates the port that has the lowest path cost from this bridge to the Root Bridge and
forwards packets to the root.
Designated Port: Indicates the port that forwards packets to a downstream network segment or
switch.
Port Priority: The port priority can be set to a value in the range of 0–255. The lower value priority
has the higher priority. The port with the higher priority has more chance to be chosen as the root
port.
Path Cost: Indicates the parameter for choosing the link path by STP. By calculating the path cost,
STP chooses the better links and blocks the redundant links so as to disbranch the ring-network to
form a tree-topological ring-free network.
The following network diagram shows the sketch map of spanning tree. Switch A, B and C are
connected together in order. After STP generation, switch A is chosen as root bridge, the path from
port 2 to port 6 is blocked.
Bridge: Switch A is the root bridge in the whole network; switch B is the designated bridge of
switch C.
Port: Port 3 is the root port of switch B and port 5 is the root port of switch C; port 1 is the
designated port of switch A and port 4 is the designated port of switch B; port 6 is the blocked
port of switch C.
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