Allied Telesis AT-S41 - Manual (Page 81)

AT-S41 User’s Guide
81
Finding and
Resolving
Redundant
Paths
Once the root bridge has been selected, the bridges must determine if
the network contains redundant paths and, if one is found, they must
select a preferred path while placing the redundant paths in a backup or
blocking state.
Where there is only one path between a bridge and a root bridge, the
bridge is referred to as the designated bridge and the port through
which the bridge is communicating with the root bridge is referred to as
the designated port.
If redundant paths exist, the bridges that are a part of the paths must
determine which path will be the primary, active path, and which path(s)
will be placed in the standby, blocking mode. This is accomplished by an
evaluation of port costs. The path offering the lowest cost to the root
bridge becomes the primary path and all other redundant paths are
placed into blocking state.
Every port on a bridge participating in STP has a cost associated with it.
The cost of a port on a bridge is typically based on port speed. The faster
the port, the lower the port cost. The exception to this is the ports on the
root bridge, where all ports have a port cost of 0.
The port costs for the ports on the AT-8326GB Fast Ethernet switch are
adjustable through the management software. Below are standard
default port cost values.
The port costs for the ports on the AT-8326GB Fast Ethernet switch are
adjustable through the management software. Below are the default
port cost values.
Table 1 Standard Port Costs
Port Speed Port Cost
10 Mbps 100
100 Mbps 10
1000 Mbps 4
Table 2 AT-8326GB Port Costs
Port Speed Port Cost
10 Mbps 19
100 Mbps 19
1000 Mbps 4