Restart STP

[petenixon]

Is it possible to restart the spanning-tree protocol on a catalyst switch after disabling stp on a vlan without restarting the switch?

I have removed the STP instance from each of my (two) vlans on my switches (they do not have redundant links back to the (former) root bridge), and have had a change of heart and want to enable it again!

Thanks

[Jon Marshall · Accepted solution]

Pete

and have had a change of heart and want to enable it again!

Good idea

Yes you should be able to restart it without rebooting the switches but obviously be aware that when you do restart it STP will need to work out the root bridge etc. so you could see some downtime.

Jon

[petenixon]

Thanks Jon!

I've got my spanning-tree running again on the switches, but I have to ask, do I really need to run STP if I have no redundant links?

[Partha Dasgupta]

It will depend on the design of your network. If there is no redundant path for any of the vlans , then its not required to run STP.  

STP is basically to prevent the loop in the network.

Regards

Partha

[Ruben Cocheno]

I found some tidy users that connected the ethernet cable to the next plug :)

Bad sleep nights

[Jon Marshall]

Pete

Strictly speaking no you don't as there is nothing for STP to block in your setup.

However running STP is pretty much always a good idea because it can provide protection against against unforseen issues such as miscabling and accidentally creating a loop, users connecting up their own switches/hubs etc.

It does not generate a lot of traffic and is not particularly heavy on switch resources so it is well worth running even in non redundant networks.

Jon

[petenixon]

Thanks Jon.

Your description is the reason for the change of heart!

Thanks again for your time and help guys, much appreciated!