802.1d spanning tree vs rapid spanning tree

[carl_townshend]

Hi all, im thinking of moving to rstp in one of my new networks, firstly, can anyone tell me the major differences between the 2? and do I need to configure anything when implementing rstp? ie do you still have a root bridge, and if so can you set it manually like normal stp ?

cheers

[glen.grant]

Yes you still have all the normal spanning tree parameters . The main difference that RSTP will converge when there is a change much faster usually within a couple seconds as opposed to like 45-50 seconds for normal spanning tree .

[bvsnarayana03]

as mentioned, RSTP is bit faster in terms of timers & convergence. There are no separate listening & learning states so it saves 15 seconds of the time. also in case of recalculations, it doesnt have to wait for the max-age to expire but it would reconverge the entire topology after 2 BPDU's are missed.

[carl_townshend]

Hi there

so, with rstp, do we still have a root switch?

[bvsnarayana03]

Root is mandatory is all types of spanning-trees.

[rafaelgarcia]

Hi,

Rapid spanning-tree also permits you to configure a secondary root switch in case the primary fails. It also has many features such as bpud guard, root guard, etc to maintain the network's integrity.