Setting Spanning Tree Protocol (STP) on SonicWall Switch

06/18/2020 3 People found this article helpful 476,531 Views

Description

Loops occur when alternate routes exist between hosts. Loops in an extended network can cause the Switch to forward traffic indefinitely, resulting in increased traffic and reducing network efficiency. Once the STP is enabled and configured, primary links are established and duplicated links are blocked automatically. The reactivation of the blocked links is also accomplished automatically. STP provides a tree topology and other Spanning tree versions supported include STP, Multiple Spanning Tree Protocol (MSTP), and Rapid Spanning Tree Protocol (RSTP). Please note that only one spanning tree can be active on the Switch at a time. The default setting is MSTP.
Multiple Spanning Tree Protocol (MSTP) defined in IEEE 802.1s, enables multiple VLANs to be mapped to reduce the number of spanning-tree instances needed to support a large number of VLANs. If there is only one VLAN in the network, a single STP works appropriately.
If the network contains more than one VLAN however, the logical network configured by a single STP would work, but it becomes more efficient to use the alternate paths available by using an alternate spanning tree for different VLANs or groups of VLANs. MSTP (which is based on RSTP for fast convergence) is designed to support independent spanning trees based on VLAN groups. MSTP provides multiple forwarding paths for data traffic and enables load balancing.
STP and RSTP prevent loops from forming by ensuring that only one path exists between the end nodes in your network. RSTP is designed as a general replacement for the slower, legacy STP. RSTP is also incorporated into MSTP. With STP, convergence can take up to a minute to complete in a larger network. This can result in the loss of communication between various parts of the network during the convergence process so STP can subsequently can lose data packets during transmission. This article explains about STP and how it can be configured globally and on a specific port.

Resolution

To set Spanning Tree Protocol globally on the Switch:

Navigate to MANAGE | Switch Controller | Overview tab. You can either do this physical view or VLAN view.
Click on the three dots next to the switch and select Edit Switch.
Navigate to the Advanced tab.
You can set the STP mode and state from here.

STP mode: Rapid or Multiple.
STP state: Enabled or Disabled.

Spanning Tree Protocol specifically on a port on the Switch

Navigate to MANAGE | Switch Controller | Overview tab. You can either do this physical view, List view or VLAN view.
Click on the port number that you would like to set this for.
Scroll down to the Advanced Settings.
You can toggle the state of STP using STP State.
Click OK.

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Setting Spanning Tree Protocol (STP) on SonicWall Switch

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