Port States
In an MSTP, ports can be in the following four states:
Forwarding: In this status the port can receive/forward data, receive/send BPDU packets as
well as learn MAC address.
Learning: In this status the port can receive/send BPDU packets and learn MAC address.
Blocking: In this status the port can only receive BPDU packets.
Disconnected: In this status the port is not participating in the STP.
Port Roles
In an MSTP, the following roles exist:
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.
Master Port: Indicates the port that connects a MST region to the common root. The path
from the master port to the common root is the shortest path between this MST region and
the common root.
Alternate Port: Indicates the port that can be a backup port of a root or master port.
Backup Port: Indicates the port that is the backup port of a designated port.
Disabled: Indicates the port that is not participating in the STP.
The following diagram shows the different port roles.
Figure 7-3 Port roles
The Spanning Tree module is mainly for spanning tree configuration of the switch, including four
submenus: STP Config, Port Config, MSTP Instance and STP Security.
7.1 STP Config
The STP Config function, for global configuration of spanning trees on the switch, can be
implemented on STP Config and STP Summary pages.
7.1.1 STP Config
Before configuring spanning trees, you should make clear the roles each switch plays in each
spanning tree instance. Only one switch can be the root bridge in each spanning tree instance. On
this page you can globally configure the spanning tree function and related parameters.
Choose the menu Spanning Tree→STP Config→STP Config to load the following page.
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