Cisco WS-C2960-24TC-S Software Guide - Page 307

Chapter 15 Configuring STP Understanding Spanning-Tree Features An interface moves through these states: • From initialization to blocking • From blocking to listening or to disabled • From listening to learning or to disabled • From learning to forwarding or to disabled • From forwarding to disabled Figure 15-1 illustrates how an interface moves through the states. Figure 15-1 Spanning-Tree Interface States Power-on initialization Blocking state Listening state Disabled state Learning state 43569 Forwarding state When you power up the switch, spanning tree is enabled by default, and every interface in the switch, VLAN, or network goes through the blocking state and the transitory states of listening and learning. Spanning tree stabilizes each interface at the forwarding or blocking state. When the spanning-tree algorithm places a Layer 2 interface in the forwarding state, this process occurs: 1. The interface is in the listening state while spanning tree waits for protocol information to move the interface to the blocking state. 2. While spanning tree waits the forward-delay timer to expire, it moves the interface to the learning state and resets the forward-delay timer. 3. In the learning state, the interface continues to block frame forwarding as the switch learns end-station location information for the forwarding database. 4. When the forward-delay timer expires, spanning tree moves the interface to the forwarding state, where both learning and frame forwarding are enabled. OL-8603-04 Catalyst 2960 Switch Software Configuration Guide 15-5