stp with different vendor

[madathilsiva]

I have  cisco3750 (core), 3550,3548, 2960, HP Procurve 2510 series, Extreme e250 series  swiches running in my network. Now all are running by default. Could you please suggest how can I  deploy rstp here?

Or which is the best loopdetection protocol is best here ? I have aroung 40 vlans . (not looking for PVST )

[cadet alain]

Hi,

I think the best option is to use MSTP which already includes RSTP features.

Alain.

[madathilsiva]

Thanks cadet alain..  but could you please exlain why you suggest mstp and what is the benifits on this senario  ?

[cadet alain]

Hi,

you don't want PVST which is  a Cisco feature so on Cisco RapidSTP is RPVST+ so apart from higher convergence you still gonna have 1 instance per-vlan and I'm not sure this is compatible with other RSTP implementations.

Here aprt from 3548 which doesn't support MSTP all others do so you'll have the advantages of rapid STP but you have interoperability between vendors and only one instance for multiple VLANS.You can set the 3548  for RPVST+ and it will be compatible with the MSTP instances.

Alain.

[Alexander Maroukian]

Hi,

As Alain proposed MSTP. For cisco in mixed vendor environment MSTP is good choice because of its cisco origin and the other vendors supports it widely HP 2510 support it, if you are talking about extreme networks x250e it supports it too.

Best regards,

Alex

[madathilsiva]

Thanks Alain &Alex.  What are the precutions i have to take before implementing   'switchmode portfast' on  these switches ?

[jimmysands73_2]

Extreme also uses ELRP, very helpful in finding loops.  I would deploy it on your Extreme switch for every vlan. 

[madathilsiva]

Do i have to create any instance if i wnat only single instance with all vlan?

Eg:-

SWITCH-C(config)#spanning-tree mode mst

Or do i have to create instance ??

I have ten vlans .I would like all are in same instance.

[jimmysands73_2]

If your doing this on a live/production network I would schedule an outage/downtime...some will occur as the networks reconverge...but if your working with three different vendors, expect the unexpected. 

Configuring MSTP if not done right, can wreck havoc...then again, anything not done right can cause havoc!

[Alexander Maroukian]

Hi,

You should take your time preparing on specific implementation on different vendors cisco, hp, extreme network in your case.

This is sample config:
Switch(config)# spanning-tree mst configurationSwitch(config-mst)# instance 1 vlan 10-20 
Switch(config-mst)# name region1 
Switch(config-mst)# revision 1

About cisco you can find the following link about cisco mstp useful: 
http://blog.ine.com/2010/02/22/understanding-mstp/
 

Best regards,

Alex