Rockwell Automation 1783-EMS08T Stratix 6000 Ethernet Managed Switch User Manual - Manual (Page 53)

Rockwell Automation Publication 1783-UM001D-EN-P - January 2013 53
Chapter
4
Switch Management
This chapter provides information about switch management options provided
through the switch’s web interface. The web interface provides these management
options:
• STP/RSTP configuration
• VLAN configuration
• Port configuration
• Mirror configuration
• MAC ID management
• Port segmenting
• QoS setup
For information about how to access the web interface for the switch, refer to
Chapter 1 .
STP/RSTP The switch supports these network protocols to prevent loops in redundant
network topologies:
• Spanning Tree Protocol (STP), as defined in IEEE 802.1D
• Rapid Spanning Tree Protocol (RSTP), as defined in IEEE 802.1w
By default, STP and RSTP are disabled.
To view the STP/RSTP status for all switch ports, use the RSTP report as
described on page
45 .
Spanning Tree Protocol
Spanning Tree Protocol (STP) is a Layer 2 link management protocol that
provides path redundancy while preventing loops in the network. For a Layer 2
Ethernet network to function properly, only one active path can exist between
any two stations. Multiple active paths among end stations cause loops in the
network. If a loop exists in the network, end stations might receive duplicate
messages. Switches might also learn end-station MAC addresses on multiple
Layer 2 interfaces. These conditions result in an unstable network. Spanning-tree
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.