SPANNING TREE · PART 1 packetlife.

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Spanning Tree Protocols

Legacy STP PVST PVST+ RSTP RPVST+ MST
Algorithm Legacy ST Legacy ST Legacy ST Rapid ST Rapid ST Rapid ST
Definition 802.1D-1998 Cisco Cisco 802.1w, Cisco 802.1s,
802.1D-2004 802.1Q-2003
Instances One Per VLAN Per VLAN One Per VLAN Configurable
Trunking N/A ISL 802.1Q, ISL N/A 802.1Q, ISL 802.1Q, ISL

Spanning Tree Instance Comparison

BPDU Format Spanning Tree Specifications Link Costs

Field Bits Bandwidth Cost
Protocol ID 16 4 Mbps 250
Version 8 10 Mbps 100
BPDU Type 8 16 Mbps 62
Flags 8 45 Mbps 39
Root ID 64 100 Mbps 19
Root Path Cost 32 155 Mbps 14
Bridge ID 64 Open Standards 622 Mbps 6
Port ID 16 IEEE 802.1D-1998 · Deprecated legacy STP standard 1 Gbps 4
Message Age 16 IEEE 802.1w · Introduced Rapid STP (RSTP) 10 Gbps 2
Max Age 16 IEEE 802.1D-2004 · Replaced legacy STP with RSTP Port States
Hello Time 16 IEEE 802.1s · Introduced Multiple Spanning Tree (MST) Legacy ST Rapid ST
Forward Delay 16 IEEE 802.1Q-2003 · Added MST to 802.1Q Disabled Discarding
Default Timers Cisco Proprietary Implementations Blocking Discarding
Hello 2s PVST · Per-VLAN implementation of legacy STP Listening Discarding
Forward Delay 15s PVST+ · Added 802.1Q trunking to PVST Learning Learning
Max Age 20s RPVST+ · Per-VLAN implementation of RSTP Forwarding Forwarding

Spanning Tree Operation Port Roles

1 Determine root bridge The bridge advertising the lowest bridge ID becomes Legacy ST Rapid ST
the root bridge
Root Root
2 Select root port Each bridge selects its primary port facing the root
Designated Designated
3 Select designated ports One designated port is selected per segment
Blocking Alternate
4 Block ports with loops All non-root and non-desginated ports are blocked
Blocking Backup

by Jeremy Stretch v2.0

SPANNING TREE · PART 2 packetlife.net

PVST+ and RPVST+ Configuration Bridge ID Format

! Set STP type

spanning-tree mode {pvst | rapid-pvst}

! Bridge priority
spanning-tree vlan 1-4094 priority 32768 Priority · 4-bit configurable priority (configurable from 0 to 61440
in increments of 4096)
! Timers, in seconds
spanning-tree vlan 1-4094 hello-time 2 System ID Extension · 12-bit value taken from VLAN number
spanning-tree vlan 1-4094 forward-time 15
MAC Address · 48-bit value to ensure uniqueness
spanning-tree vlan 1-4094 max-age 20

! Enabling PortFast by default Path Selection

spanning-tree portfast default
1 Prefer the neighbor advertising the lowest root ID
! PVST+ Enhancements
2 Prefer the neighbor advertising the lowest cost to root
spanning-tree backbonefast
spanning-tree uplinkfast 3 Prefer the neighbor with the lowest bridge ID
! Interface attributes 4 Prefer the lowest sender port ID
interface FastEthernet0/1
spanning-tree [vlan 1-4094] port-priority 128 Optional PVST+ Ehancements
spanning-tree [vlan 1-4094] cost 19
PortFast Enables immediate transition into the
! Manual link type specification forwarding state on edge ports
spanning-tree link-type {point-to-point | shared}
UplinkFast Enables access switches to maintain backup
! Enables spanning tree if running PVST+, or paths to root
! designates an edge port under RPVST+
spanning-tree portfast BackboneFast Enables immediate expiration of the Max Age
timer on an indirect link failure
! Spanning tree protection
spanning-tree guard {loop | root | none}
Spanning Tree Protection
! Per-interface toggling Root Guard Prevents a port from becoming the root port
spanning-tree bpduguard enable
spanning-tree bpdufilter enable BPDU Guard Error disables a port if a BPDU is received
Loop Guard Prevents a blocked port from transitioning to
MST Configuration listening after the Max Age timer has expired

! Set STP type BPDU Filter Blocks BPDUs on an interface

spanning-tree mode mst
RSTP Link Types
! MST Configuration
spanning-tree mst configuration Point-to-Point Connects to exactly one other bridge (a full
name MyTree duplex interface)
revision 1
Shared Potentially connects to multiple bridges (a half
! Map VLANs to instances duplex interface)
instance 1 vlan 20, 30
instance 2 vlan 40, 50 Edge Connects to a single host; designated by
applying PortFast
! Bridge priority (per instance)
spanning-tree mst 1 priority 32768
Troubleshooting
! Timers, in seconds show spanning-tree [summary | detail]
spanning-tree mst hello-time 2
spanning-tree mst forward-time 15 show spanning-tree root
spanning-tree mst max-age 20
show spanning-tree vlan <VLAN>
! Maximum hops for BPDUs
spanning-tree mst max-hops 20
show spanning-tree interface <interface>
show spanning-tree mst [<instance>] [detail]
! Interface attributes
interface FastEthernet0/1 show spanning-tree mst configuration
spanning-tree mst 1 port-priority 128
spanning-tree mst 1 cost 19 show spanning-tree mst interface <interface>

by Jeremy Stretch v2.0