4 U SING RESILIENCE FEATURESSetting up resilience on your network helps protect critical links againstfailure, protects against network loops, and reduces network downtimeto a minimum.This chapter explains the features supported by the Switch that provideresilience for your network. It covers the following topics:■ Spanning Tree Protocol (STP)■ Rapid Spanning Tree Protocol (RSTP) — an enhanced version of theSTP feature.For detailed descriptions of the web interface operations and thecommand line interface (CLI) commands that you require to manage theSwitch please refer to the Management Interface Reference Guidesupplied in HTML format on the CD-ROM that accompanies your Switch.Spanning TreeProtocol (STP)The Spanning Tree Protocol (STP) makes your network more resilient tolink failure and also provides a protection from loops — one of the majorcauses of broadcast storms. STP is enabled by default on your Switch.To be fully effective, STP must be enabled on all Switches in yournetwork.RSTP provides the same functionality as STP. For details on how the twosystems differ, see “How RSTP Differs to STP” on page 45.The following sections explain more about STP and the protocol featuressupported by your Switch. They cover the following topics:■ What is STP?■ How STP Works■ Using STP on a Network with Multiple VLANsdua1730-0bAA03.book Page 39 Monday, July 11, 2005 11:14 AM
