
Configuring Bridging Services
1-10 114060 Rev. A
Next, Endstation K receives two copies of the frame, resulting in an inefficient use
of the available bandwidth. More serious, however, is the effect of duplicate
frames on the two bridges. The frame flooded by Bridge 1 onto Interface 1 is
ultimately read by Bridge 2 on Interface 2. When Bridge 2 reads this frame, it
updates its forwarding table to indicate that Endstation J is in the direction of
LAN B. Similarly, Bridge 1 reads the frame flooded by Bridge 2 and updates its
forwarding table to show that Endstation J is in the direction of LAN B.
Consequently, the forwarding tables of both bridges are now corrupted and neither
bridge can properly forward a frame to Endstation J.
You can avoid this problem by implementing the spanning tree algorithm, which
produces a logical tree topology out of any arrangement of bridges. The result is
that a single path exists between any two endstations on an extended network. The
spanning tree algorithm also provides a high degree of fault tolerance. It allows
the network to automatically reconfigure the spanning tree topology if there is a
bridge or data-path failure.
The spanning tree algorithm requires five values to derive the spanning tree
topology. The first, a multicast address specifying all bridges on the extended
network, is media-dependent and is automatically determined by the software.
You assign the remaining four values, which are
• Network-unique identifier for each bridge on the extended network
• Unique identifier for each bridge/LAN interface (called a port)
• Priority specifying the relative priority of each port
• Cost for each port
After you assign these values, bridges multicast and process the formatted frames
(called Bridge Protocol Data Units, or BPDUs) to derive a single loop-free
topology throughout the extended network. The bridges exchange BPDU frames
quickly, minimizing the time that service is unavailable between hosts.
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