Allied Telesis AT-S87 - Manual (Page 97)

AT-S87 Management Software User’s Guide
97
Port Priority
If two paths have the same port cost, the bridges must select a preferred
path. In some instances this can involve the use of the port priority
parameter. This parameter is used as a tie breaker when two paths have
the same cost.
The range for port priority is 0 to 240. As with bridge priority, this range is
broken into increments, in this case multiples of 16. Table 8 lists the
values and increments. The default value is 128.
Forwarding Delay and Topology Changes
If there is a change in the network topology due to a failure, removal, or
addition of any active components, the active topology also changes. This
may trigger a change in the state of some blocked ports. However, a
change in a port state is not activated immediately.
It might take time for the root bridge to notify all bridges that a topology
change has occurred, especially if it is a large network. If a topology
change is made before all bridges have been notified, a temporary data
loop could occur, and that could adversely impact network performance.
To forestall the formation of temporary data loops during topology
changes, a port designated to change from blocking to forwarding passes
through two additional states—listening and learning—before it begins to
forward frames. The amount of time a port spends in these states is set by
the forwarding delay value. This value states the amount of time that a port
spends in the listening and learning states prior to changing to the
forwarding state.
The forwarding delay value is adjustable in the AT-S87 management
Table 8. Port Priority Value Increments
Port
Priority
Port
Priority
0 128
16 144
32 160
48 176
64 192
80 208
96 224
112 240