M A G N U M 6 K S W I T C H E S , M N S - 6 K U S E R G U I D ES-Ring with LLL RSTP STPResiliency Fast recovery from a single pointof failure. Ring Master isresponsible for decision makingMultiple points offailure – eachconnected node canbe in stand-byMultiple points offailure – eachconnected nodecan be in stand-bySoftware Cost Licensed per ring Included in MNS-6K Included in MNS-6KHardware cost One Managed 6K per ring.Multiple choices for members ofthe ringMany choicesavailable, making itcost effectiveMany choicesavailable, makingit cost effectiveSoftware Alarm Yes No NoRing Size 50+ nodes NA NADual-Homing Supports dual-homing to membersin the ringSupports dual-homed device todevices in thenetworkSupports dual-homed device todevices in thenetworkRSTP/STP Operation without S-RingS-Ring supports non managed switches as long as LLL capability is supported on thatswitch. A ring is a special form of mesh network topology. The two top-of-the-ring portsform an otherwise-illegal redundant path, and standard RSTP/STP causes one of these twoports to block incoming packets in order to enable normal Ethernet traffic flow. All ringtraffic goes through the non-blocking port for normal LAN operation. This port isdesignated Forwarding Port. Meanwhile, there is a regular flow of status-checking multi-castpackets (called BPDUs or Bridge Protocol Data Units) sent out by RSTP/STP that movearound the ring to show that things are functioning normally.177
