Spanning Tree on my ProCurve network

[PokerMunkee]

Hi all,

I had a network loop take down an older 3COM 3870 switch yesterday, caused by an end user.  I want to make sure this can't happen again.

My core is a ProCurve 5412zl (L3).  My edge switches (L2) are ProCurve 2920s and one ProCurve 4208.  The older 3COM will be replaced with another 2920.  Have about 10 active VLANs.

STP is enabled on my 5412 and 4208 currently.  A "show spanning-tree" shows this on the 5412:

Multiple Spanning Tree (MST) Information
STP Enabled : Yes
Force Version : MSTP-operation
IST Mapped VLANs : 1-4094Switch Priority : 4096
Max Age : 20
Max Hops : 20
Forward Delay : 15
Topology Change Count : 545,022
Time Since Last Change : 4 mins
CST Root MAC Address : 3cd92b-39c300
CST Root Priority : 4096
CST Root Path Cost : 0
CST Root Port : This switch is root

I want to enable STP on my 2920s.  Do I use MSTP or RPVST?  It gives me both options in a drop down menu on the web interface.  I'd prefer not to change any STP settings on my core switch, as I don't want to risk any issues if possible.

Do I need to do any special settings or will it automatically detect my 5412 as the root and network loops should be prevented?  

Do I need to configure my 5412/4208 for anything or does enabling Spanning Tree do the trick?

Trying to get this setup the right way...

Thanx!

[Pete W]

When enabled, the default mode of spanning-tree on all new HP provision kit is MSTP - this is your best choice.

RPVST is only really there for Cisco inter-operation (RPVST does not integrate well with MSTP).

I personally would therefore do the following (on the CLI):

On Core

  conf t

    spanning-tree priority 0

  end

  wr mem

On Everything Else

  conf t

    spanning-tree

  end

  wr mem

This can almost cetainly be implemented from the web GUI, however I'm not familiar with the HP switch GUI.

Regards,

Pete

[Richard Brodie_1]

You have priority 1 (x4096) on the core switch, so unless you manually set some other switch to priority 0 or 1, it should be fine.

One thing that concerns me is these lines:

Topology Change Count : 545,022
Time Since Last Change : 4 mins

Are you still seeing frequent topology changes? That's not a good thing.

[PokerMunkee]

Yes, I was wondering about that.  I see port C17 on my 5412 going up and down every 5 minutes in the show logging.

Need to figure out what is connected to that port.  

How do I clear these numbers?