Alcatel Unleashed

Hello,
i have one 9700 as core, and 16 6400 adjacenty , in a star topology.
I must have STP enable ( core as root bridge ) or no ?
because when i was stp enable i had lots of problems in my network.
now it's disabled since last year.

I just want to know your tecnhical opinion.

Thanks.

Hugo

Hi Hugo,

You didn't solve the issue you had. In case of a loop your network is now at risk. (corrected a typo, your network IS AT RISK)

B

I think Benny meant "is now at risk"

I would enable STP even if you technically don't need it in your setup. But it is for detecting and blocking Redundant links to prevent a loop.
So if at one time someone accidently connects two ports on an edge or connects two 6400 with a cable your network will probably go down.

I would enable STP and try to figure out what went wrong the first time.. use a maintenance window

Typing too fast ...

You're right .. his network IS AT RISK.

Benny

Ok, thanks, i know that.
Could you help me, please ? setup the omniswitch 9700 as root bridge ( in cisco and hp is span prio 0 ) and in alcatel ?
what must i put in the others switchs ? the 6400 and one omniaccess 4304 ? prio 32 ?

Thanks

In general:
Use a common STP Algorithm, e.g. use 1x1 an all devices or RSTP. If you have different vendors you may need MSTP as common protocol. Mixing is a bad idea as debugging is way more complex and you need to be sure it is interoperable.

9700 as 1x1 STP root:
bridge mode 1x1
bridge 1x1 1 priority 4096
bridge 1x1 2 priority 4096
bridge 1x1 3 priority 4096
bridge 1x1 4 priority 4096
[..]

So we say for vlan 1,2,3,4 ... we have stp priority 4096, as 32768 is the default value that should be enough and you do not need to change priority on the 6400. (Apart from protocol to 1x1)

AFAIK the 4302 does not speak 1x1, so you can disable stop on the Controller or you can use plain RSTP:
9700:
bridge mode flat
bridge priority 4096

6400:
bridge mode flat

just check that the 6400 are using the same protocol.