In order for a Layer 2 Ethernet network to function properly, only one active path can exist between any two stations. STP operation is transparent to end stations, which cannot detect whether they are connected to a single LAN segment or a switched LAN of multiple segments.

When you create fault-tolerant internetworks, you must have a loop-free path between all nodes in a network. The STP algorithm calculates the best loop-free path throughout a switched Layer 2 network. Layer 2 LAN ports send and receive STP frames, which are called Bridge Protocol Data Units (BPDUs), at regular intervals. Network devices do not forward these frames but use the frames to construct a loop-free path.

Multiple active paths between end stations cause loops in the network. If a loop exists in the network, end stations might receive duplicate messages and network devices might learn end station MAC addresses on multiple Layer 2 LAN ports.

STP defines a tree with a root bridge and a loop-free path from the root to all network devices in the Layer 2 network. STP forces redundant data paths into a blocked state. If a network segment in the spanning tree fails and a redundant path exists, the STP algorithm recalculates the spanning tree topology and activates the blocked path.

When two Layer 2 LAN ports on a network device are part of a loop, the STP port priority and port path-cost setting determine which port on the device is put in the forwarding state and which port is put in the blocking state. The STP port priority value is the efficiency with which that location allows the port to pass traffic. The STP port path-cost value is derived from the media speed.

All devices in a LAN that participate in a spanning tree gather information about other switches in the network by exchanging BPDUs. This exchange of BPDUs results in the following actions:

• The system elects a unique root switch for the spanning tree network topology.

• The system elects a designated switch for each LAN segment.

• The system eliminates any loops in the switched network by placing redundant switch ports in a backup state; all paths that are not needed to reach the root device from anywhere in the switched network are placed in an STP-blocked state.

The topology on an active switched network is determined by the following:

• The unique device identifier Media Access Control (MAC) address of the device that is associated with each device

• The path cost to the root that is associated with each switch port

• The port identifier that is associated with each switch port

In a switched network, the root switch is the logical center of the spanning tree topology. STP uses BPDUs to elect the root switch and root port for the switched network.

Note

The mac-address bpdu source version 2 command enables STP to use the new Cisco MAC address (00:26:0b:xx:xx:xx) as the source address of BPDUs generated on vPC ports. To apply this command, you must have identical configurations for both vPC peer switches or peers. Cisco strongly recommends that you disable ether channel guard on the edge devices before issuing this command to minimize traffic disruption from STP inconsistencies. Re-enable the ether channel guard after updating on both peers.

Each VLAN on each network device has a unique 64-bit bridge ID that consists of a bridge priority value, an extended system ID (IEEE 802.1t), and an STP MAC address allocation.

Network devices transmit BPDUs throughout the STP instance. Each network device sends configuration BPDUs to communicate and compute the spanning tree topology. Each configuration BPDU contains the following minimal information:

• The unique bridge ID of the network device that the transmitting network device believes to be the root bridge

• The STP path cost to the root

• The bridge ID of the transmitting bridge

• The message age

• The identifier of the transmitting port

• Values for the hello, forward delay, and max-age protocol timer

• Additional information for STP extension protocols

When a network device transmits a Rapid PVST+ BPDU frame, all network devices connected to the VLAN on which the frame is transmitted receive the BPDU. When a network device receives a BPDU, it does not forward the frame but instead uses the information in the frame to calculate a BPDU. If the topology changes, the device initiates a BPDU exchange.

A BPDU exchange results in the following:

• One network device is elected as the root bridge.

• The shortest distance to the root bridge is calculated for each network device based on the path cost.

• A designated bridge for each LAN segment is selected. This network device is closest to the root bridge through which frames are forwarded to the root.

• A root port is elected. This port provides the best path from the bridge to the root bridge.

• Ports included in the spanning tree are selected.

For each VLAN, the network device with the lowest numerical ID is elected as the root bridge. If all network devices are configured with the default priority (32768), the network device with the lowest MAC address in the VLAN becomes the root bridge. The bridge priority value occupies the most significant bits of the bridge ID.

When you change the bridge priority value, you change the probability that the device will be elected as the root bridge. Configuring a lower value increases the probability; a higher value decreases the probability.

The STP root bridge is the logical center of each spanning tree topology in a Layer 2 network. All paths that are not needed to reach the root bridge from anywhere in the Layer 2 network are placed in STP blocking mode.

BPDUs contain information about the transmitting bridge and its ports, including bridge and MAC addresses, bridge priority, port priority, and path cost. STP uses this information to elect the root bridge for the STP instance, to elect the root port that leads to the root bridge, and to determine the designated port for each Layer 2 segment.

By lowering the numerical value of the ideal network device so that it becomes the root bridge, you force an STP recalculation to form a new spanning tree topology with the ideal network device as the root.

When the spanning tree topology is calculated based on default parameters, the path between the source and destination end stations in a switched network might not be ideal. For instance, connecting higher-speed links to a port that has a higher number than the current root port can cause a root-port change. The goal is to make the fastest link the root port.

For example, assume that one port on switch B is a fiber-optic link, and another port on switch B (an unshielded twisted-pair [UTP] link) is the root port. Network traffic might be more efficient over the high-speed fiber-optic link. By changing the STP port priority on the fiber-optic port to a higher priority (lower numerical value) than the root port, the fiber-optic port becomes the new root port.

Rapid PVST+ is the IEEE 802.1w (RSTP) standard implemented per VLAN. A single instance of STP runs on each configured VLAN (if you do not manually disable STP). Each Rapid PVST+ instance on a VLAN has a single root switch. You can enable and disable STP on a per-VLAN basis when you are running Rapid PVST+.

Note	Rapid PVST+ is the default STP mode for the device.

Rapid PVST+ uses point-to-point wiring to provide rapid convergence of the spanning tree. The spanning tree reconfiguration can occur in less than 1 second with Rapid PVST+ (in contrast to 50 seconds with the default settings in the 802.1D STP). The device automatically checks the PVID.

Note	Rapid PVST+ supports one STP instance for each VLAN.

Using Rapid PVST+, STP convergence occurs rapidly. By default, each designated port in the STP sends out a BPDU every 2 seconds. On a designated port in the topology, if hello messages are missed three consecutive times, or if the maximum age expires, the port immediately flushes all protocol information in the table. A port considers that it loses connectivity to its direct neighbor designated port if it misses three BPDUs or if the maximum age expires. This rapid aging of the protocol information allows quick failure detection.

Rapid PVST+ provides for rapid recovery of connectivity following the failure of a device, a device port, or a LAN. It provides rapid convergence for edge ports, new root ports, and ports connected through point-to-point links as follows:

• Edge ports—When you configure a port as an edge port on an RSTP device, the edge port immediately transitions to the forwarding state. (This immediate transition was previously a Cisco-proprietary feature named PortFast.) You should only configure ports that connect to a single end station as edge ports. Edge ports do not generate topology changes when the link changes.

Enter the spanning-tree port type interface configuration command to configure a port as an STP edge port.

Note	We recommend that you configure all ports connected to a Layer 2 host as edge ports.

• Root port—If Rapid PVST+ selects a new root port, it blocks the old root port and immediately transitions the new root port to the forwarding state.

• Point-to-point links—If you connect a port to another port through a point-to-point link and the local port becomes a designated port, it negotiates a rapid transition with the other port by using the proposal-agreement handshake to ensure a loop-free topology.

Rapid PVST+ achieves rapid transition to the forwarding state only on edge ports and point-to-point links. Although the link type is configurable, the system automatically derives the link type information from the duplex setting of the port. Full-duplex ports are assumed to be point-to-point ports, while half-duplex ports are assumed to be shared ports.

Edge ports do not generate topology changes, but all other designated and root ports generate a topology change (TC) BPDU when they either fail to receive three consecutive BPDUs from the directly connected neighbor or the maximum age times out. At this point, the designated or root port sends a BPDU with the TC flag set. The BPDUs continue to set the TC flag as long as the TC While timer runs on that port. The value of the TC While timer is the value set for the hello time plus 1 second. The initial detector of the topology change immediately floods this information throughout the entire topology.

When Rapid PVST+ detects a topology change, the protocol does the following:

• Starts the TC While timer with a value equal to twice the hello time for all the nonedge root and designated ports, if necessary.

• Flushes the MAC addresses associated with all these ports.

The topology change notification floods quickly across the entire topology. The system flushes dynamic entries immediately on a per-port basis when it receives a topology change.

Note	The TCA flag is used only when the device is interacting with devices that are running legacy 802.1D STP.

The proposal and agreement sequence then quickly propagates toward the edge of the network and quickly restores connectivity after a topology change.

Rapid PVST+ and 802.1w use all six bits of the flag byte to add the following:

• The role and state of the port that originates the BPDU

• The proposal and agreement handshake

Another important change is that the Rapid PVST+ BPDU is type 2, version 2, which makes it possible for the device to detect connected legacy (802.1D) bridges. The BPDU for 802.1D is type 0, version 0.

The switch learns the link type from the port duplex mode; a full-duplex port is considered to have a point-to-point connection and a half-duplex port is considered to have a shared connection. You can override the default setting that is controlled by the duplex setting by entering the spanning-tree link-type interface configuration command.

This proposal/agreement handshake is initiated only when a nonedge port moves from the blocking to the forwarding state. The handshaking process then proliferates step-by-step throughout the topology.

This table describes the protocol timers that affect the Rapid PVST+ performance.

Rapid PVST+ provides rapid convergence of the spanning tree by assigning port roles and learning the active topology. Rapid PVST+ builds upon the 802.1D STP to select the device with the highest switch priority (lowest numerical priority value) as the root bridge. Rapid PVST+ assigns one of these port roles to individual ports:

• Root port—Provides the best path (lowest cost) when the device forwards packets to the root bridge.

• Designated port—Connects to the designated device that has the lowest path cost when forwarding packets from that LAN to the root bridge. The port through which the designated device is attached to the LAN is called the designated port.

• Alternate port—Offers an alternate path toward the root bridge to the path provided by the current root port. An alternate port provides a path to another device in the topology.

• Backup port—Acts as a backup for the path provided by a designated port toward the leaves of the spanning tree. A backup port can exist only when two ports are connected in a loopback by a point-to-point link or when a device has two or more connections to a shared LAN segment. A backup port provides another path in the topology to the device.

• Disabled port—Has no role within the operation of the spanning tree.

In a stable topology with consistent port roles throughout the network, Rapid PVST+ ensures that every root port and designated port immediately transition to the forwarding state while all alternate and backup ports are always in the blocking state. Designated ports start in the blocking state. The port state controls the operation of the forwarding and learning processes.

Propagation delays can occur when protocol information passes through a switched LAN. As a result, topology changes can take place at different times and at different places in a switched network. When a Layer 2 LAN port transitions directly from nonparticipation in the spanning tree topology to the forwarding state, it can create temporary data loops. Ports must wait for new topology information to propagate through the switched LAN before starting to forward frames.

Each Layer 2 LAN port on the device that uses Rapid PVST+ or MST exists in one of the following four states:

• Blocking—The Layer 2 LAN port does not participate in frame forwarding.

• Learning—The Layer 2 LAN port prepares to participate in frame forwarding.

• Forwarding—The Layer 2 LAN port forwards frames.

• Disabled—The Layer 2 LAN port does not participate in STP and is not forwarding frames.

When you enable Rapid PVST+, every port in the device, VLAN, and network goes through the blocking state and the transitory states of learning at power up. If properly configured, each Layer 2 LAN port stabilizes to the forwarding or blocking state.

When the STP algorithm places a Layer 2 LAN port in the forwarding state, the following process occurs:

1. The Layer 2 LAN port is put into the blocking state while it waits for protocol information that suggests it should go to the learning state.

2. The Layer 2 LAN port waits for the forward delay timer to expire, moves the Layer 2 LAN port to the learning state, and restarts the forward delay timer.

3. In the learning state, the Layer 2 LAN port continues to block frame forwarding as it learns the end station location information for the forwarding database.

4. The Layer 2 LAN port waits for the forward delay timer to expire and then moves the Layer 2 LAN port to the forwarding state, where both learning and frame forwarding are enabled.

When the device receives a proposal message on one of its ports and that port is selected as the new root port, Rapid PVST+ forces all other ports to synchronize with the new root information.

The device is synchronized with superior root information received on the root port if all other ports are synchronized. An individual port on the device is synchronized if either of the following applies:

• That port is in the blocking state.

• It is an edge port (a port configured to be at the edge of the network).

If a designated port is in the forwarding state and is not configured as an edge port, it transitions to the blocking state when the Rapid PVST+ forces it to synchronize with new root information. In general, when the Rapid PVST+ forces a port to synchronize with root information and the port does not satisfy any of the above conditions, its port state is set to blocking.

After ensuring that all of the ports are synchronized, the device sends an agreement message to the designated device that corresponds to its root port. When the devices connected by a point-to-point link are in agreement about their port roles, Rapid PVST+ immediately transitions the port states to the forwarding state.

The software checks the consistency of the port role and state in the received BPDUs to detect unidirectional link failures that could cause bridging loops using the Unidirectional Link Detection (UDLD) feature. This feature is based on the dispute mechanism.

See the Cisco Nexus 9000 Series NX-OS Interfaces Configuration Guide, for information on UDLD.

When a designated port detects a conflict, it keeps its role, but reverts to a discarding state because disrupting connectivity in case of inconsistency is preferable to opening a bridging loop.

This table shows how the STP port path-cost default value is determined from the media speed and path-cost calculation method of a LAN interface.

If a loop occurs, STP considers the port cost when selecting a LAN interface to put into the forwarding state.

You can assign the lower cost values to LAN interfaces that you want STP to select first and higher cost values to LAN interfaces that you want STP to select last. If all LAN interfaces have the same cost value, STP puts the LAN interface with the lowest LAN interface number in the forwarding state and blocks other LAN interfaces.

On access ports, you assign the port cost by the port. On trunk ports, you assign the port cost by the VLAN; you can configure the same port cost to all the VLANs on a trunk port.

If a redundant path occurs and multiple ports have the same path cost, Rapid PVST+ considers the port priority when selecting which LAN port to put into the forwarding state. You can assign lower priority values to LAN ports that you want Rapid PVST+ to select first and higher priority values to LAN ports that you want Rapid PVST+ to select last.

If all LAN ports have the same priority value, Rapid PVST+ puts the LAN port with the lowest LAN port number in the forwarding state and blocks other LAN ports. The possible priority range is from 0 through 224 (the default is 128), configurable in increments of 32. The device uses the port priority value when the LAN port is configured as an access port and uses the VLAN port priority values when the LAN port is configured as a trunk port.