HP A5830 Configuration Manual page 59

Figure 13 The final calculated spanning tree
B
This example shows a simplified spanning tree calculation process.
The configuration BPDU forwarding mechanism of STP
The configuration BPDUs of STP are forwarded following these guidelines:
Upon network initiation, every device regards itself as the root bridge, generates configuration

BPDUs with itself as the root, and sends the configuration BPDUs at a regular hello interval.
If the root port received a configuration BPDU and the received configuration BPDU is superior to the

configuration BPDU of the port, the device increases the message age carried in the configuration
BPDU following a certain rule and starts a timer to time the configuration BPDU while sending this
configuration BPDU through the designated port.
If the configuration BPDU received on a designated port has a lower priority than the configuration

BPDU of the local port, the port immediately sends its own configuration BPDU in response.
If a path becomes faulty, the root port on this path no longer receives new configuration BPDUs and
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the old configuration BPDUs are discarded due to timeout. The device generates a configuration
BPDU with itself as the root and sends the BPDUs and TCN BPDUs. This triggers a new spanning
tree calculation process to establish a new path to restore the network connectivity.
However, the newly calculated configuration BPDU cannot be propagated throughout the network
immediately, so the old root ports and designated ports that have not detected the topology change
continue forwarding data along the old path. If the new root ports and designated ports begin to forward
data as soon as they are elected, a temporary loop can occur.
STP timers
The most important timing parameters in STP calculation are forward delay, hello time, and max age.
 Forward delay
Forward delay is the delay time for port state transition.
A path failure can cause spanning tree re-calculation to adapt the spanning tree structure to the change.
However, the resulting new configuration BPDU cannot propagate throughout the network immediately. If
the newly elected root ports and designated ports start to forward data immediately, a temporary loop
will likely occur.
For this reason, as a mechanism for state transition in STP, the newly elected root ports or designated
ports require twice the forward delay time before they transit to the forwarding state to make sure that the
new configuration BPDU has propagated throughout the network.
Hello time

A
C
Root bridge
Root port
Designated port
Blocked port
Normal link
Blocked link
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