How Mstp Works; Mstp Implementation On Devices - H3C S7500E-X Configuration Manual

•
Learning—The port receives and sends BPDUs, learns MAC addresses, but does not forward
user traffic. Learning is an intermediate port state.
•
Discarding—The port receives and sends BPDUs, but does not learn MAC addresses or
forward user traffic.
NOTE:
When in different MSTIs, a port can be in different states.
A port state is not exclusively associated with a port role.
role supports. (A check mark [√] indicates that the port supports this state, while a dash [—] indicates
that the port does not support this state.)
Table 7 Port states that different port roles support
Port role (right)
Port state (below)
Forwarding
Learning
Discarding

How MSTP works

MSTP divides an entire Layer 2 network into multiple MST regions, which are connected by a
calculated CST. Inside an MST region, multiple spanning trees, called MSTIs, are calculated. Among
these MSTIs, MSTI 0 is the IST.
Like STP, MSTP uses configuration BPDUs to calculate spanning trees. An important difference is
that an MSTP BPDU carries the MSTP configuration of the bridge from which the BPDU is sent.
CIST calculation
During the CIST calculation, the following process takes place:
•
The device with the highest priority is elected as the root bridge of the CIST.
•
MSTP generates an IST within each MST region through calculation.
•
MSTP regards each MST region as a single device and generates a CST among these MST
regions through calculation.
The CST and ISTs constitute the CIST of the entire network.
MSTI calculation
Within an MST region, MSTP generates different MSTIs for different VLANs based on the
VLAN-to-instance mappings. For each spanning tree, MSTP performs a separate calculation
process similar to spanning tree calculation in STP. For more information, see
of the STP algorithm."
In MSTP, a VLAN packet is forwarded along the following paths:
•
Within an MST region, the packet is forwarded along the corresponding MSTI.
•
Between two MST regions, the packet is forwarded along the CST.

MSTP implementation on devices

MSTP is compatible with STP and RSTP. Devices that are running MSTP and that are used for
spanning tree calculation can identify STP and RSTP protocol packets.
Root
Designated
port/master
port
port
√ √
√ √
√ √
70
Table 7 lists the port states that each port
Alternate port
—
—
√
"Calculation process
Backup port
—
—
√