Spanning Tree - TP-Link T1600G-18TS Configuration Manual

Configuring Spanning Tree
1

Spanning Tree

1.1 Overview
STP
STP (Spanning Tree Protocol) is a layer 2 Protocol that prevents loops in the network. As is
shown in Figure 1-1, STP helps to:
 Block specified ports of the switches to build a loop-free topology.
 Detect topology changes and automatically generate a loop-free topology.
Figure 1-1 STP Function
RSTP
RSTP (Rapid Spanning Tree Protocol) provides the same features as STP. But RSTP also
provides much faster spanning tree convergence.
MSTP
MSTP (Multiple Spanning Tree Protocol) also provides the fast spanning tree convergence
as RSTP. In addition, MSTP enables VLANs to be mapped to different spanning trees ( MST
instances), and traffic in different VLANs will be transmitted along their respective paths,
implementing load balancing among VLANs.
1.2 Basic Concepts
1.2.1 STP/RSTP Concepts
Based on the networking topology, this section will introduce some basic concepts in STP/
RSTP.
STP
Spanning Tree
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