Dell PowerConnect B-RX BigIron RX Series Configuration Guide v02.8.00 - Page 439

State machines 13 • Topology Change - This state machine detects, generates, and propagates topology change notifications. It acknowledges Topology Change Notice (TCN) messages when operating in 802.1D mode. It also flushes the MAC table when a topology change event takes place. • Port State Transition - This state machine transitions the port to a discarding, learning, or forwarding state and performs any necessary processing associated with the state changes. • Port Timers - This state machine is responsible for triggering any of the state machines described above, based on expiration of specific port timers. In contrast to the 802.1D standard, the RSTP standard does not have any bridge specific timers. All timers in the CLI are applied on a per-port basis, even though they are configured under bridge parameters. RSTP state machines attempt to quickly place the ports into either a forwarding or discarding state. Root ports are quickly placed in forwarding state when both of the following events occur: • It is assigned to be the Root port. • It receives an RST BPDU with a proposal flag from a Designated port. The proposal flag is sent by ports with a Designated role when they are ready to move into a forwarding state. When a the role of Root port is given to another port, the old Root port is instructed to reroot. The old Root port goes into a discarding state and negotiates with its peer port for a new role and a new state. A peer port is the port on the other bridge to which the port is connected. For example, in Figure 43, Port1 of Switch 200 is the peer port of Port2 of Switch 100. A port with a Designated role is quickly placed into a forwarding state if one of the following occurs: • The Designated port receives an RST BPDU that contains an agreement flag from a Root port • The Designated port is an Edge port However, a Designated port that is attached to an Alternate port or a Backup port must wait until the forward delay timer expires twice on that port while it is still in a Designated role, before it can proceed to the forwarding state. Backup ports are quickly placed into discarding states. Alternate ports are quickly placed into discarding states. A port operating in RSTP mode may enter a learning state to allow MAC address entries to be added to the filtering database; however, this state is transient and lasts only a few milliseconds, if the port is operating in RSTP mode and if the port meets the conditions for rapid transition. Handshake mechanisms To rapidly transition a Designated or Root port into a forwarding state, the Port Role Transition state machine uses handshake mechanisms to ensure loop free operations. It uses one type of handshake if no Root port has been assigned on a bridge, and another type if a Root port has already been assigned. Handshake when no root port is elected If a Root port has not been assigned on a bridge, RSTP uses the Proposing -> Proposed -> Sync -> Synced -> Agreed handshake: BigIron RX Series Configuration Guide 363 53-1002253-01