Module 5: STP Concepts

Instructor Materials

Switching, Routing and Wireless

Essentials v7.0 (SRWE)
Instructor Materials – Module 5 Planning Guide
This PowerPoint deck is divided in two parts:
• Instructor Planning Guide
• Information to help you become familiar with the module
• Teaching aids
• Instructor Class Presentation
• Optional slides that you can use in the classroom
• Begins on slide # 9
Note: Remove the Planning Guide from this presentation before sharing with anyone.
For additional help and resources go to the Instructor Home Page and Course Resources
for this course. You also can visit the professional development site on netacad.com, the
official Cisco Networking Academy Facebook page, or Instructor Only FB group.

© 2016 Cisco and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved. Cisco Confidential 2
What to Expect in this Module
To facilitate learning, the following features within the GUI may be included in this module:
Feature Description

Animations Expose learners to new skills and concepts.

Expose learners to new skills and concepts.
Videos
Check Your Per topic online quiz to help learners gauge content understanding.
Understanding(CYU)

Interactive Activities A variety of formats to help learners gauge content understanding.

Small simulations that expose learners to Cisco command line to practice
Syntax Checker configuration skills.
Simulation and modeling activities designed to explore, acquire, reinforce, and
PT Activity expand skills.

© 2016 Cisco and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved. Cisco Confidential 3
What to Expect in this Module (Cont.)
To facilitate learning, the following features may be included in this module:

Feature Description

Hands-On Labs Labs designed for working with physical equipment.

Class Activities These are found on the Instructor Resources page. Class Activities are
designed to facilitate learning, class discussion, and collaboration.
Self-assessments that integrate concepts and skills learned throughout the
Module Quizzes series of topics presented in the module.

Module Summary Briefly recaps module content.

© 2016 Cisco and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved. Cisco Confidential 4
Check Your Understanding

• Check Your Understanding activities are designed to let students quickly determine if they
understand the content and can proceed, or if they need to review.
• Check Your Understanding activities do not affect student grades.

• There are no separate slides for these activities in the PPT. They are listed in the notes area of the
slide that appears before these activities.

© 2016 Cisco and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved. Cisco Confidential 5
Module 5: Activities
What activities are associated with this module?
Page # Activity Type Activity Name Optional?

5.1.8 Video Observe STP Operation Recommended

5.1.9 Packet Tracer Investigate STP Loop Prevention Recommended

5.1.10 Check Your Understanding Purpose of STP Recommended

5.2.12 Check Your Understanding STP Operations Recommended

5.3.6 Check Your Understanding Evolution of STP Recommended

© 2016 Cisco and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved. Cisco Confidential 6
Module 5: Best Practices
Prior to teaching Module 5, the instructor should:
• Review the activities and assessments for this module.
• Try to include as many questions as possible to keep students engaged during classroom
presentation.

Topic 5.1
Ask the students or have a class discussion:
• Do you think the threat of broadcast storms is still present, given modern switching
technology?
• Search the Internet for Radia Perlman’s poem “Algoryme” and read it. Do you think it
describes the Spanning Tree Algorithm very well?

© 2016 Cisco and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved. Cisco Confidential 7
Module 5: Best Practices (Cont.)
Topic 5.2
Ask the students or have a class discussion:
• How appropriate do you think the standard Spanning Tree timers are for today’s switched
networks?
• How much complexity does Per-VLAN Spanning Tree add to the network?
Topic 5.3
Ask the students or have a class discussion:
• From your perspective, what significant advantage does RSTP provide over STP?
• PortFast allows a port to go into forwarding mode immediately. Who benefits the most from
this capability?

© 2016 Cisco and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved. Cisco Confidential 8
Module 5: STP Concepts
Switching, Routing and Wireless
Essentials v7.0 (SRWE)
Module Objectives
Module Title: STP Concepts

Module Objective: Explain how STP enables redundancy in a Layer 2 network.

Topic Title Topic Objective

Explain common problems in a redundant, L2
Purpose of STP
switched network.
Explain how STP operates in a simple switched
STP Operations
network.
Evolution of STP Explain how Rapid PVST+ operates.

© 2016 Cisco and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved. Cisco Confidential 10
5.1 Purpose of STP

© 2016 Cisco and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved. Cisco Confidential 11
urpose of STP
edundancy in Layer 2 Switched Networks
• This topic covers the causes of loops in a Layer 2 network and briefly explains how
spanning tree protocol works. Redundancy is an important part of the hierarchical
design for eliminating single points of failure and preventing disruption of network
services to users. Redundant networks require the addition of physical paths, but
logical redundancy must also be part of the design. Having alternate physical paths for
data to traverse the network makes it possible for users to access network resources,
despite path disruption. However, redundant paths in a switched Ethernet network
may cause both physical and logical Layer 2 loops.
• Ethernet LANs require a loop-free topology with a single path between any two
devices. A loop in an Ethernet LAN can cause continued propagation of Ethernet
frames until a link is disrupted and breaks the loop.

© 2016 Cisco and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved. Cisco Confidential 12
Purpose of STP
Spanning Tree Protocol
• Spanning Tree Protocol (STP) is
a loop-prevention network
protocol that allows for
redundancy while creating a
loop-free Layer 2 topology.
• STP logically blocks physical
loops in a Layer 2 network,
preventing frames from circling
the network forever.

© 2016 Cisco and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved. Cisco Confidential 13
Purpose of STP
STP Recalculation

STP compensates for a failure in the

network by recalculating and
opening up previously blocked
ports.

© 2016 Cisco and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved. Cisco Confidential 14
Purpose of STP
Issues with Redundant Switch Links
• Path redundancy provides multiple network services by eliminating the possibility of a
single point of failure. When multiple paths exist between two devices on an Ethernet
network, and there is no spanning tree implementation on the switches, a Layer 2 loop
occurs. A Layer 2 loop can result in MAC address table instability, link saturation, and
high CPU utilization on switches and end-devices, resulting in the network becoming
unusable.
• Layer 2 Ethernet does not include a mechanism to recognize and eliminate endlessly
looping frames. Both IPv4 and IPv6 include a mechanism that limits the number of
times a Layer 3 networking device can retransmit a packet. A router will decrement the
TTL (Time to Live) in every IPv4 packet, and the Hop Limit field in every IPv6 packet.
When these fields are decremented to 0, a router will drop the packet. Ethernet and
Ethernet switches have no comparable mechanism for limiting the number of times a
switch retransmits a Layer 2 frame. STP was developed specifically as a loop
prevention mechanism for Layer 2 Ethernet.

© 2016 Cisco and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved. Cisco Confidential 15
Purpose of STP
Layer 2 Loops
• Without STP enabled, Layer 2 loops can form, causing broadcast, multicast
and unknown unicast frames to loop endlessly. This can bring down a
network quickly.
• When a loop occurs, the MAC address table on a switch will constantly
change with the updates from the broadcast frames, which results in MAC
database instability. This can cause high CPU utilization, which makes the
switch unable to forward frames.
• An unknown unicast frame is when the switch does not have the
destination MAC address in its MAC address table and must forward the
frame out all ports, except the ingress port.

© 2016 Cisco and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved. Cisco Confidential 16
Purpose of STP
Broadcast Storm
• A broadcast storm is an abnormally high number of broadcasts overwhelming the
network during a specific amount of time. Broadcast storms can disable a network
within seconds by overwhelming switches and end devices. Broadcast storms
can be caused by a hardware problem such as a faulty NIC or from a Layer 2
loop in the network.
• Layer 2 broadcasts in a network, such as ARP Requests are very common. Layer
2 multicasts are typically forwarded the same way as a broadcast by the switch.
IPv6 packets are never forwarded as a Layer 2 broadcast, ICMPv6 Neighbor
Discovery uses Layer 2 multicasts.
• A host caught in a Layer 2 loop is not accessible to other hosts on the network.
Additionally, due to the constant changes in its MAC address table, the switch
does not know out of which port to forward unicast frames.
• To prevent these issues from occurring in a redundant network, some type of
spanning tree must be enabled on the switches. Spanning tree is enabled, by
default, on Cisco switches to prevent Layer 2 loops from occurring.
© 2016 Cisco and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved. Cisco Confidential 17
Purpose of STP
The Spanning Tree Algorithm
• STP is based on an algorithm invented by Radia Perlman while working for
Digital Equipment Corporation, and published in the 1985 paper "An
Algorithm for Distributed Computation of a Spanning Tree in an Extended
LAN.” Her spanning tree algorithm (STA) creates a loop-free topology by
selecting a single root bridge where all other switches determine a single
least-cost path.
• STP prevents loops from occurring by configuring a loop-free path through
the network using strategically placed "blocking-state" ports. The switches
running STP are able to compensate for failures by dynamically unblocking
the previously blocked ports and permitting traffic to traverse the alternate
paths.

© 2016 Cisco and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved. Cisco Confidential 18
Purpose of STP
The Spanning Tree Algorithm (Cont.)
How does the STA create a loop-free topology?
• Selecting a Root Bridge: This bridge (switch) is the reference point for the entire
network to build a spanning tree around.
• Block Redundant Paths: STP ensures that there is only one logical path between all
destinations on the network by intentionally blocking redundant paths that could cause
a loop. When a port is blocked, user data is prevented from entering or leaving that
port.
• Create a Loop-Free Topology: A blocked port has the effect of making that link a
non-forwarding link between the two switches. This creates a topology where each
switch has only a single path to the root bridge, similar to branches on a tree that
connect to the root of the tree.
• Recalculate in case of Link Failure: The physical paths still exist to provide
redundancy, but these paths are disabled to prevent the loops from occurring. If the
path is ever needed to compensate for a network cable or switch failure, STP
recalculates the paths and unblocks the necessary ports to allow the redundant path to
become active. STP recalculations can also occur any time a new switch or new
© 2016 Cisco and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved. Cisco Confidential 19
inter-switch link is added to the network.
Purpose of STP
Video – Observe STP Operation
This video demonstrates the use of STP in a network environment.

© 2016 Cisco and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved. Cisco Confidential 20
Purpose of STP
Packet Tracer – Investigate STP Loop Prevention
In this Packet Tracer activity, you will complete the following objectives:
• Create and configure a simple three switch network with STP.
• View STP operation.
• Disable STP and view operation again.

© 2016 Cisco and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved. Cisco Confidential 21
5.2 STP Operations

© 2016 Cisco and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved. Cisco Confidential 22
STP Operations
Steps to a Loop-Free Topology
Using the STA, STP builds a loop-free topology in a four-step process:
1. Elect the root bridge.
2. Elect the root ports.
3. Elect designated ports.
4. Elect alternate (blocked) ports.
• During STA and STP functions, switches use Bridge Protocol Data Units (BPDUs) to share
information about themselves and their connections. BPDUs are used to elect the root bridge, root
ports, designated ports, and alternate ports.
• Each BPDU contains a bridge ID (BID) that identifies which switch sent the BPDU. The BID is
involved in making many of the STA decisions including root bridge and port roles.
• The BID contains a priority value, the MAC address of the switch, and an extended system ID. The
lowest BID value is determined by the combination of these three fields.

© 2016 Cisco and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved. Cisco Confidential 23
STP Operations
Steps to a Loop-Free Topology (Cont.)
• Bridge Priority: The default priority value for all Cisco switches is the decimal value 32768. The
range is 0 to 61440 in increments of 4096. A lower bridge priority is preferable. A bridge priority of
0 takes precedence over all other bridge priorities.
• Extended System ID: The extended system ID value is a decimal value added to the bridge
priority value in the BID to identify the VLAN for this BPDU.
• MAC address: When two switches are configured with the same priority and have the same
extended system ID, the switch having the MAC address with the lowest value, expressed in
hexadecimal, will have the lower BID.

© 2016 Cisco and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved. Cisco Confidential 24
STP Operations
1. Elect the Root Bridge
• The STA designates a single switch as the root
bridge and uses it as the reference point for all
path calculations. Switches exchange BPDUs
to build the loop-free topology beginning with
selecting the root bridge.
• All switches in the broadcast domain participate
in the election process. After a switch boots, it
begins to send out BPDU frames every two
seconds. These BPDU frames contain the BID
of the sending switch and the BID of the root
bridge, known as the Root ID.
• The switch with the lowest BID will become the
root bridge. At first, all switches declare
themselves as the root bridge with their own
BID set as the Root ID. Eventually, the
switches learn through the exchange of BPDUs
which switch has the lowest BID and will agree
on one root bridge.

© 2016 Cisco and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved. Cisco Confidential 25
STP Operations
Impact of Default BIDs
• Because the default BID is 32768, it is possible for
two or more switches to have the same priority. In
this scenario, where the priorities are the same,
the switch with the lowest MAC address will
become the root bridge. The administrator should
configure the desired root bridge switch with a
lower priority.
• In the figure, all switches are configured with the
same priority of 32769. Here the MAC address
becomes the deciding factor as to which switch
becomes the root bridge. The switch with the
lowest hexadecimal MAC address value is the
preferred root bridge. In this example, S2 has the
lowest value for its MAC address and is elected
as the root bridge for that spanning tree instance.
• Note: The priority of all the switches is 32769. The
value is based on the 32768 default bridge priority
and the extended system ID (VLAN 1 assignment)
associated with each switch (32768+1).

© 2016 Cisco and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved. Cisco Confidential 26
STP Operations
Determine the Root Path Cost
• When the root bridge has been elected for a given spanning tree instance, the STA starts determining the best paths to
the root bridge from all destinations in the broadcast domain. The path information, known as the internal root path cost,
is determined by the sum of all the individual port costs along the path from the switch to the root bridge.
• When a switch receives the BPDU, it adds the ingress port cost of the segment to determine its internal root path cost.
• The default port costs are defined by the speed at which the port operates. The table shows the default port costs
suggested by IEEE. Cisco switches by default use the values as defined by the IEEE 802.1D standard, also known as
the short path cost, for both STP and RSTP.
• Although switch ports have a default port cost associated with them, the port cost is configurable. The ability to
configure individual port costs gives the administrator the flexibility to manually control the spanning tree paths to the
root bridge.

STP Cost: IEEE RSTP Cost: IEEE

Link Speed
802.1D-1998 802.1w-2004
10 Gbps 2 2,000
1 Gbps 4 20,000
100 Mbps 19 200,000
10 Mbps 100 2,000,000

© 2016 Cisco and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved. Cisco Confidential 27
STP Operations
2. Elect the Root Ports
• After the root bridge has been determined, the
STA algorithm is used to select the root port.
Every non-root switch will select one root port.
The root port is the port closest to the root bridge
in terms of overall cost to the root bridge. This
overall cost is known as the internal root path
cost.
• The internal root path cost is equal to the sum of
all the port costs along the path to the root
bridge, as shown in the figure. Paths with the
lowest cost become preferred, and all other
redundant paths are blocked. In the example, the
internal root path cost from S2 to the root bridge
S1 over path 1 is 19 while the internal root path
cost over path 2 is 38. Because path 1 has a
lower overall path cost to the root bridge, it is the
preferred path and F0/1 becomes the root port
on S2.

© 2016 Cisco and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved. Cisco Confidential 28
STP Operations
3. Elect Designated Ports
• Every segment between two switches will have one
designated port. The designated port is a port on the
segment that has the internal root path cost to the
root bridge. In other words, the designated port has
the best path to receive traffic leading to the root
bridge.
• What is not a root port or a designated port becomes
an alternate or blocked port.
• All ports on the root bridge are designated ports.
• If one end of a segment is a root port, the other end
is a designated port.
• All ports attached to end devices are designated
ports.
• On segments between two switches where neither of
the switches is the root bridge, the port on the switch
with the least-cost path to the root bridge is a
designated port.

© 2016 Cisco and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved. Cisco Confidential 29
STP Operations
4. Elect Alternate (Blocked) Ports
If a port is not a root port or a
designated port, then it becomes an
alternate (or backup) port. Alternate
ports are in discarding or blocking
state to prevent loops. In the figure,
the STA has configured port F0/2 on
S3 in the alternate role. Port F0/2 on
S3 is in the blocking state and will
not forward Ethernet frames. All
other inter-switch ports are in
forwarding state. This is the
loop-prevention part of STP.

© 2016 Cisco and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved. Cisco Confidential 30
STP Operations
Elect a Root Port from Multiple Equal-Cost Paths
When a switch has multiple equal-cost paths to the root bridge, the switch will determine a port using
the following criteria:
• Lowest sender BID
• Lowest sender port priority
• Lowest sender port ID

© 2016 Cisco and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved. Cisco Confidential 31
STP Operations
Elect a Root Port from Multiple Equal-Cost Paths (Cont.)
Lowest Sender BID: This topology has four switches with switch S1 as the root bridge. Port F0/1 on switch S3 and
port F0/3 on switch S4 have been selected as root ports because they have the root path cost to the root bridge for
their respective switches. S2 has two ports, F0/1 and F0/2 with equal cost paths to the root bridge. The bridge IDs of
S3 and S4, will be used to break the tie. This is known as the sender’s BID. S3 has a BID of 32769.5555.5555.5555
and S4 has a BID of 32769.1111.1111.1111. Because S4 has a lower BID, the F0/1 port of S2, which is the port
connected to S4, will be the root port.

© 2016 Cisco and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved. Cisco Confidential 32
STP Operations
Elect a Root Port from Multiple Equal-Cost Paths (Cont.)
Lowest Sender Port Priority: This topology has two switches which are connected with two
equal-cost paths between them. S1 is the root bridge, so both of its ports are designated ports.
• S4 has two ports with equal-cost paths to the root bridge. Because both ports are connected to
the same switch, the sender’s BID (S1) is equal. So the first step is a tie.
• Next, is the sender’s (S1) port priority. The default port priority is 128, so both ports on S1 have
the same port priority. This is also a tie. However, if either port on S1 was configured with a lower
port priority, S4 would put its adjacent port in forwarding state. The other port on S4 would be a
blocking state.

© 2016 Cisco and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved. Cisco Confidential 33
STP Operations
Elect a Root Port from Multiple Equal-Cost Paths (Cont.)
• Lowest Sender Port ID: The last tie-breaker is the lowest sender’s port ID. Switch S4 has
received BPDUs from port F0/1 and port F0/2 on S1. The decision is based on the sender’s port
ID, not the receiver’s port ID. Because the port ID of F0/1 on S1 is lower than port F0/2, the port
F0/6 on switch S4 will be the root port. This is the port on S4 that is connected to the F0/1 port on
S1.
• Port F0/5 on S4 will become an alternate port and placed in the blocking state.

© 2016 Cisco and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved. Cisco Confidential 34
STP Operations
STP Timers and Port States
STP convergence requires three timers, as follows:
• Hello Timer -The hello time is the interval between BPDUs. The default is 2 seconds but can be
modified to between 1 and 10 seconds.
• Forward Delay Timer -The forward delay is the time that is spent in the listening and learning
state. The default is 15 seconds but can be modified to between 4 and 30 seconds.
• Max Age Timer -The max age is the maximum length of time that a switch waits before attempting
to change the STP topology. The default is 20 seconds but can be modified to between 6 and 40
seconds.
Note: The default times can be changed on the root bridge, which dictates the value of these timers for
the STP domain.

© 2016 Cisco and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved. Cisco Confidential 35
STP Operations
STP Timers and Port States (Cont.)
STP facilitates the logical loop-free path throughout the broadcast domain. The spanning tree is determined through the
information learned by the exchange of the BPDU frames between the interconnected switches. If a switch port
transitions directly from the blocking state to the forwarding state without information about the full topology during the
transition, the port can temporarily create a data loop. For this reason, STP has five ports states, four of which are
operational port states as shown in the figure. The disabled state is considered non-operational.

© 2016 Cisco and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved. Cisco Confidential 36
STP Operations
Operational Details of Each Port State

The table summarizes the operational details of each port state

Forwarding Data
Port State BPDU MAC Address Table
Frames
Blocking Receive only No update No

Listening Receive and send No update No

Learning Receive and send Updating table No

Forwarding Receive and send Updating table Yes

Disabled None sent or received No update No

© 2016 Cisco and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved. Cisco Confidential 37
STP Operations
Per-VLAN Spanning Tree

STP can be configured to operate in an environment with multiple VLANs. In Per-VLAN Spanning Tree
(PVST) versions of STP, there is a root bridge elected for each spanning tree instance. This makes it
possible to have different root bridges for different sets of VLANs. STP operates a separate instance of
STP for each individual VLAN. If all ports on all switches are members of VLAN 1, then there is only
one spanning tree instance.

© 2016 Cisco and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved. Cisco Confidential 38
5.3 Evolution of STP

© 2016 Cisco and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved. Cisco Confidential 39
Evolution of STP
Different Versions of STP
• Many professionals generically use spanning tree and STP to refer to the various implementations
of spanning tree, such as Rapid Spanning Tree Protocol (RSTP) and Multiple Spanning Tree
Protocol (MSTP). In order to communicate spanning tree concepts correctly, it is important to refer
to the implementation or standard of spanning tree in context.
• The latest IEEE documentation on spanning tree (IEEE-802-1D-2004) says, "STP has now been
superseded by the Rapid Spanning Tree Protocol (RSTP)."The IEEE uses "STP" to refer to the
original implementation of spanning tree and "RSTP" to describe the version of spanning tree
specified in IEEE-802.1D-2004.
• Because the two protocols share much of the same terminology and methods for the loop-free
path, the primary focus will be on the current standard and the Cisco proprietary implementations
of STP and RSTP.
• Cisco switches running IOS 15.0 or later, run PVST+ by default. This version incorporates many of
the specifications of IEEE 802.1D-2004, such as alternate ports in place of the former
non-designated ports. Switches must be explicitly configured for rapid spanning tree mode in order
to run the rapid spanning tree protocol.

© 2016 Cisco and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved. Cisco Confidential 40
Evolution of STP
Different Versions of STP (Cont.)
STP
Description
Variety
This is the original IEEE 802.1D version (802.1D-1998 and earlier) that provides a loop-free topology in a
STP network with redundant links. Also called Common Spanning Tree (CST), it assumes one spanning tree
instance for the entire bridged network, regardless of the number of VLANs.
Per-VLAN Spanning Tree (PVST+) is a Cisco enhancement of STP that provides a separate 802.1D
PVST+ spanning tree instance for each VLAN configured in the network. PVST+ supports PortFast, UplinkFast,
BackboneFast, BPDU guard, BPDU filter, root guard, and loop guard.
802.1D-2
This is an updated version of the STP standard, incorporating IEEE 802.1w.
004
Rapid Spanning Tree Protocol (RSTP) or IEEE 802.1w is an evolution of STP that provides faster
RSTP
convergence than STP.
Rapid This is a Cisco enhancement of RSTP that uses PVST+ and provides a separate instance of 802.1w per
PVST+ VLAN. Each separate instance supports PortFast, BPDU guard, BPDU filter, root guard, and loop guard.
Multiple Spanning Tree Protocol (MSTP) is an IEEE standard inspired by the earlier Cisco proprietary Multiple
MSTP
Instance STP (MISTP) implementation. MSTP maps multiple VLANs into the same spanning tree instance.
Multiple Spanning Tree (MST) is the Cisco implementation of MSTP, which provides up to 16 instances of
MST RSTP and combines many VLANs with the same physical and logical topology into a common RSTP
instance. Each instance supports PortFast, BPDU guard, BPDU filter, root guard, and loop guard.
© 2016 Cisco and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved. Cisco Confidential 41
Evolution of STP
RSTP Concepts
• RSTP (IEEE 802.1w) supersedes the original 802.1D while retaining backward
compatibility. The 802.1w STP terminology remains primarily the same as the original
IEEE 802.1D STP terminology. Most parameters have been left unchanged. Users
that are familiar with the original STP standard can easily configure RSTP. The same
spanning tree algorithm is used for both STP and RSTP to determine port roles and
topology.
• RSTP increases the speed of the recalculation of the spanning tree when the Layer 2
network topology changes. RSTP can achieve much faster convergence in a properly
configured network, sometimes in as little as a few hundred milliseconds. If a port is
configured to be an alternate port it can immediately change to a forwarding state
without waiting for the network to converge.

Note: Rapid PVST+ is the Cisco implementation of RSTP on a per-VLAN basis. With
Rapid PVST+ an independent instance of RSTP runs for each VLAN.

© 2016 Cisco and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved. Cisco Confidential 42
Evolution of STP
RSTP Port States and Port Roles
There are only three port states Root ports and designated ports are the
in RSTP that correspond to the same for both STP and RSTP. However,
three possible operational states there are two RSTP port roles that
in STP. The 802.1D disabled, correspond to the blocking state of STP. In
blocking, and listening states are STP, a blocked port is defined as not being
merged into a unique 802.1w the designated or root port. RSTP has two
discarding state. port roles for this purpose.

© 2016 Cisco and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved. Cisco Confidential 43
Evolution of STP
RSTP Port States and Port Roles (Cont.)
The alternate port has an alternate path to the root bridge. The backup port is a backup to a shared
medium, such as a hub. A backup port is less common because hubs are now considered legacy
devices.

© 2016 Cisco and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved. Cisco Confidential 44
Evolution of STP
PortFast and BPDU Guard
• When a device is connected to a switch port or when a switch powers up, the switch port goes
through both the listening and learning states, each time waiting for the Forward Delay timer to
expire. This delay is 15 seconds for each state for a total of 30 seconds. This can present a
problem for DHCP clients trying to discover a DHCP server because the DHCP process may
timeout. The result is that an IPv4 client will not receive a valid IPv4 address.
• When a switch port is configured with PortFast, that port transitions from blocking to forwarding
state immediately, avoiding the 30 second delay. You can use PortFast on access ports to allow
devices connected to these ports to access the network immediately. PortFast should only be used
on access ports. If you enable PortFast on a port connecting to another switch, you risk creating a
spanning tree loop.
• A PortFast-enabled switch port should never receive BPDUs because that would indicate that
switch is connected to the port, potentially causing a spanning tree loop. Cisco switches support a
feature called BPDU guard. When enabled, it immediately puts the switch port in an errdisabled
(error-disabled) state upon receipt of any BPDU. This protects against potential loops by effectively
shutting down the port. The administrator must manually put the interface back into service.

© 2016 Cisco and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved. Cisco Confidential 45
Evolution of STP
Alternatives to STP
• Over the years, organizations required greater resiliency and availability in the LAN.
Ethernet LANs went from a few interconnected switches connected to a single router,
to a sophisticated hierarchical network design including access, distribution and core
layer switches.
• Depending on the implementation, Layer 2 may include not only the access layer, but
also the distribution or even the core layers. These designs may include hundreds of
switches, with hundreds or even thousands of VLANs. STP has adapted to the added
redundancy and complexity with enhancements, as part of RSTP and MSTP.
• An important aspect to network design is fast and predictable convergence when
there is a failure or change in the topology. Spanning tree does not offer the same
efficiencies and predictabilities provided by routing protocols at Layer 3.
• Layer 3 routing allows for redundant paths and loops in the topology, without blocking
ports. For this reason, some environments are transitioning to Layer 3 everywhere
except where devices connect to the access layer switch. In other words, the
connections between access layer switches and distribution switches would be Layer
3 instead of Layer 2.
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5.4 Module Practice and Quiz

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• Module Practice and Quiz
What Did I Learn In This Module?
• Redundant paths in a switched Ethernet network may cause both physical and logical Layer 2 loops.
• A Layer 2 loop can result in MAC address table instability, link saturation, and high CPU utilization on switches and
end-devices. This results in the network becoming unusable.
• STP is a loop-prevention network protocol that allows for redundancy while creating a loop-free Layer 2 topology. Without
STP, Layer 2 loops can form, causing broadcast, multicast and unknown unicast frames to loop endlessly, bringing down a
network.
• Using the STA, STP builds a loop-free topology in a four-step process: elect the root bridge, elect the root ports, elect
designated ports, and elect alternate (blocked) ports.
• During STA and STP functions, switches use BPDUs to share information about themselves and their connections. BPDUs
are used to elect the root bridge, root ports, designated ports, and alternate ports.
• When the root bridge has been elected for a given spanning tree instance, the STA determines the best paths to the root
bridge from all destinations in the broadcast domain. The path information, known as the internal root path cost, is
determined by the sum of all the individual port costs along the path from the switch to the root bridge.
• After the root bridge has been determined the STA algorithm selects the root port. The root port is the port closest to the root
bridge in terms of overall cost, which is called the internal root path cost.
• After each switch selects a root port, switches will select designated ports. The designated port is a port on the segment
(with two switches) that has the internal root path cost to the root bridge.
• If a port is not a root port or a designated port, then it becomes an alternate (or backup) port. Alternate ports and backup
ports are in discarding or blocking state to prevent loops.

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Module Practice and Quiz
What Did I Learn In This Module? (Cont.)
• When a switch has multiple equal-cost paths to the root bridge, the switch will determine a port using the following criteria:
lowest sender BID, then the lowest sender port priority, and finally the lowest sender port ID.
• STP convergence requires three timers: the hello timer, the forward delay timer, and the max age timer.
• Port states are blocking, listening, learning, forwarding, and disabled.
• In PVST versions of STP, there is a root bridge elected for each spanning tree instance. This makes it possible to have
different root bridges for different sets of VLANs.
• STP is often used to refer to the various implementations of spanning tree, such as RSTP and MSTP.
• RSTP is an evolution of STP that provides faster convergence than STP.
• RSTP port states are learning, forwarding and discarding.
• PVST+ is a Cisco enhancement of STP that provides a separate spanning tree instance for each VLAN configured in the
network. PVST+ supports PortFast, UplinkFast, BackboneFast, BPDU guard, BPDU filter, root guard, and loop guard.
• Cisco switches running IOS 15.0 or later, run PVST+ by default.
• Rapid PVST+ is a Cisco enhancement of RSTP that uses PVST+ and provides a separate instance of 802.1w per VLAN.
• When a switch port is configured with PortFast, that port transitions from blocking to forwarding state immediately, bypassing
the STP listening and learning states and avoiding a 30 second delay.
• Use PortFast on access ports to allow devices connected to these ports, such as DHCP clients, to access the network
immediately, rather than waiting for STP to converge on each VLAN.

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Module Practice and Quiz
What Did I Learn In This Module? (Cont.)
• Cisco switches support a feature called BPDU guard which immediately puts the switch port in an error-disabled state upon
receipt of any BPDU to protect against potential loops.
• Over the years, Ethernet LANs went from a few interconnected switches that were connected to a single router, to a
sophisticated hierarchical network design. Depending on the implementation, Layer 2 may include not only the access layer,
but also the distribution or even the core layers. These designs may include hundreds of switches, with hundreds or even
thousands of VLANs. STP has adapted to the added redundancy and complexity with enhancements as part of RSTP and
MSTP.
• Layer 3 routing allows for redundant paths and loops in the topology, without blocking ports. For this reason, some
environments are transitioning to Layer 3 everywhere except where devices connect to the access layer switch.

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Module 5: STP Concepts
New Terms and Commands
• Spanning Tree Protocol (STP)
• Spanning Tree Algorithm (STA) • Max Age timer
• IEEE 802.1D • Forward Delay timers
• IEEE 802.1w • Blocking
• Broadcast Storm • Forwarding
• Root Bridge • Discarding
• Root Port • Per-VLAN Spanning Tree (PVST)
• Designated Port • PVST+
• Alternate (Blocked) Port • Rapid PVST+
• Learning • Multiple Spanning Tree Protocol (MSTP)
• Listening • Multiple Spanning Tree (MST)
• Bridge ID (BID) • PortFast
• Root ID • BPDU Guard
• Bridge Protocol Data Unit (BPDU)
• Bridge Priority
• Extended System ID
• short path cost
• long path cost
• root path cost
• Rapid STP (RSTP)
• port priority
• Hello timer

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