H3C Technologies H3C MSR 50 - Manual (Page 339)

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MSTP features
Developed based on IEEE 802.1s, MSTP overcomes the limitations of STP and RSTP. In addition to the
support for rapid network convergence, it also allows data flows of different VLANs to be forwarded
along separate paths, providing a better load sharing mechanism for redundant links.
MSTP includes the following features:
• MSTP supports mapping VLANs to MST instances (MSTIs) by means of a VLAN-to-instance
mapping table. MSTP can reduce communication overheads and resource usage by mapping
multiple VLANs to one MSTI.
• MSTP divides a switched network into multiple regions, each containing multiple spanning trees
that are independent of one another.
• MSTP prunes a loop network into a loop-free tree, avoiding proliferation and endless cycling of
packets in a loop network. In addition, it provides multiple redundant paths for data forwarding,
supporting load balancing of VLAN data.
• MSTP is compatible with STP and RSTP.
MSTP basic concepts
Figure 326 Basic concepts in MSTP