STP

[anjaleate]

Hi everyone, I am working on a large network with three different network segments with five switches each attached to my administrative network that also has five switches, the larges of which is the root bridge of the network. Using STP, I need to know which ports would be blocked and which switches would be the designated bridges for eash attached segment. I was told to use some of the switches as redundant switches, but I am totally lost. Any ideas?

[Allan Bowman]

Hi!

If you want to know the exact path "normally" used, you will need to set routing priorities in each of the switches. It also depends somewhat on the particular switches involved - I have found that there are some variations in how the STP standard is interpreted.

In a carefully layed out network, you should be able to determine with some certainty what ports will be blocked "normally", and what path will be taken in the case of equipment or port failure.

Allan in Atlanta

[Sergej Gurenko]

I recommend you to reed some specialized literature about LAN design. You can also take some Procurve training classes.

You can use GUI tools to track the state of the STP. Fluke Lan mapshot 2.0 can draw you current STP diagram inside MS Visio (port states, bridge priorities, etc). You can find LAN Mapshot in MS Visio Engineer edition bundle. Unfortunately this tool is discontinued.
Other tool you can use - loriotpro. You can download a full trial version.