I have a 2960-S switch that runs two physical loops (via fiber, first physical loop using fiber ports 25 and 26, the second physical loop through fiber ports 27 and 28). I am running 3 VLANS across the switch and network, but only using one VLAN (and limited to this one VLAN due to the proprietary nature of the connected system) for spanning-tree on both the root bridge and across the network.
Although I have learned a lot about STP, I am not sure if this is a scenario where I can use "basic" RSTP settings to keep the two segments separate on this one root bridge, or if I need to look at MSTP (of which I am not that familiar beyond the concept among multiple VLANS and switches). I understand that in normal STP there is one root bridge with one root port; in this scenario I need to find out if it is possible to have one root bridge with two separate STP instance on the same VLAN with a root port for each.
For this I am limited to one switch (the 2960-S) and at this point am unsure what options I should consider to make this happen: so I ask for some input from those much smarter than I (as I am in full learning mode on this).
