Brocade Multi-Service IronWare Switching Configuration Guide (Supporting R05.6.00) - Manual (Page 439)

Multi-Service IronWare Switching Configuration Guide 409
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Point-to-point ports
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FIGURE 73 Topology with edge ports
However, if any incoming RST BPDU is received from a previously configured Edge port, RSTP
automatically makes the port as a non-edge port. This is extremely important to ensure a loop free
Layer 2 operation since a non-edge port is part of the active RSTP topology.
The bridge detection state module can auto-detect an Edge port and a non-edge port. An
administrator can also configure a port to be an Edge port. It is recommended that Edge ports are
configured explicitly to take advantage of the Edge port feature, instead of allowing the protocol to
auto-detect them.
Point-to-point ports
To take advantage of the RSTP features, ports on an RSTP topology should be explicitly configured
as point-to-point links. Shared media should not be configured as point-to-point links.
NOTE
Configuring shared media or non-point-to-point links as point-to-point links could lead to Layer 2
loops.
The topology in Figure 74 is an example of shared media that should not be configured as
point-to-point links. In Figure 74 , a port on a bridge communicates or is connected to at least two
ports.