Data Center Solution

Data Center Solution-Design Guide: Configure Brocade VDX in 'Standalone Mode'
with Cisco STP
Synopsis: This publication provides design guidance for various types of STP used in
connections between VDX Switches and Catalyst 6500 switches. Brocade VDX Switches are
often deployed in the Access layer at the Top-of-Rack in Standalone mode using STP. In many
data centers, they connect to existing Cisco Catalyst 6500 switches in the Aggregation layer.
Contents
Preface
Overview
Purpose of This Document
Audience
Objectives
Related Documents
About Brocade
Key Contributors
Document History
Technical Description of STP
BPDU
STP Interface State Change
STP on Brocade VDX Switches
Standalone Mode
VCS Fabric Mode
Root Bridge Election
Bridge ID
Bridge Priority
STP Interoperability Design
802.1D STP
Overview
Configurations
802.1D STP Interoperability
802.1w RSTP
Overview
Configurations
801.w RSTP Interoperability
PVST+
Overview
Configurations
PVST+ Interoperability
MSTP
Overview
Configurations
MSTP Interoperability
RPVST+
Overview
Configurations
RPVST+ Interoperability
LAG Design
LAG Overview
Static LAG
Dynamic LAG
LAG Configurations
Interoperability Test Results
Interoperability Test Bed Diagram
Interoperability Test Methodology
LAG Interoperability Test Result
LAG Configurations
LAG Interoperability Verification
Test Result Summary
802.1D STP Interoperability Test Result
Configurations
Verification for Spanning Tree Topology
Spanning Tree Convergence Time
Test Result Summary
802.1w RSTP Interoperability Test Result
Configurations
Verification of Spanning Tree Topology
Test Result Summary
PVST+ Interoperability Test Result
Configurations
Test Result Summary
MSTP Interoperability Test Result
Configurations
Test Result Summary
RPVST+ Interoperability Test Result
Configurations
Test Result Summary
Preface
Overview
This document provides design guidance to how to connect up Brocade VDX Switches on
'Standalone Mode' to existing Ciscos Catalyst Switches' infrastructure running STP
(Spanning Tree Protocol).
When VDX Switches are connected up to existing customer's infrastructure running STP,
NOS 3.0.x VDX Switches on 'Standalone Mode' support active participation in STP by
sending STP BPDUs' (Bridge Packet Data Units) frames and processing received STP
BPDUs' frames. However, NOS 3.0.x VCS Fabric does not support STP (which means NOS
3.0.x VCS Fabric does not send STP BPDUs frames, nor does it process received STP
BPDUs frames), but it floods received STP BPDU frames into ports in the same VLAN, and
therefore, the VCS fabric is seen as a wire connection from existing customer infrastructures
point of view. There are use cases for NOS 3.0.x VCS Fabric to be connected up to existing
customer infrastructure running STP, so please use the following reference.
References
Design Guide: Connecting Brocade VCS Fabric with NOS
3.0 to Existing STP Networks
NOS 4.0.x VCS Fabric supports active participation in STP by sending STP BPDUs' frames
and process received STP BPDU's frames while preserving full benefit of Brocade Ether
Fabrics, and future publication about this is planned.
The document is not intended for the deployment scenarios connecting up NOS 4.0.x VCS
Fabric to existing customer's infrastructure running STP, but it is intended for the deployment
scenarios connecting up VDX Switches on 'Standalone Mode' running NOS 3.0.x or onward
to existing customer's infrastructure running STP.
Purpose of This Document

This design guide describes to how to design and configure Brocades VDX Switches STP
for interoperability when deployed into the existing datacenter network with Cisco Catalyst
6500 Switches using STP.
The following Brocade and Cisco platforms are used in this design guide.
Brocade VDX 6730 Switch
Cisco Catalyst 6500 Switch
Audience
This document is intended for network design and operation staffs who want to add a
Brocade VDX switches with STP to an existing data center network with Cisco Catalyst 6500
Switches.
Objectives
This design guide provides guidance and recommendations for Brocade VDX Switches STP
Interoperability with Cisco Catalyst 6500 Switches.
Related Documents
The following documents are valuable resources for the designer. In addition, any Brocade
release notes that have been published for Brocade VDX Switches should be reviewed.
References
Deployment Guide-Brocade VDX with STP and Cisco Catalyst
Switches
Data Center Network Infrastructure Reference Architecture
Brocade Network OS (NOS) Administrators Guide, R3.0.1
Brocade Network OS (NOS) Command Reference Guide, R3.0.1
Brocade VDX 6730 Switch Data Sheets
About Brocade
Brocade (NASDAQ: BRCD) networking solutions help the worlds leading organizations
transition smoothly to a world where applications and information reside anywhere. This
vision is designed to deliver key business benefits such as unmatched simplicity, non-stop
networking, application optimization, and investment protection.Innovative Ethernet and
storage networking solutions for data center, campus, and service provider networks help
reduce complexity and cost while enabling virtualization and cloud computing to increase
business agility.To help ensure a complete solution, Brocade partners with world-class IT
companies and provides comprehensive education, support, and professional services
offerings. (www.brocade.com).
Key Contributors
The content in this guide was developed by the following key contributors.
Lead Architect: Chris Yoon, Strategic Solutions Lab
Technical Author: Brook Reams, Strategic Solutions Lab
Document History
Date Version Description
2013-07-25 1.0 Initial Release
2013-08-08 1.1 STP Root Election Section was Added and LAGs were Added to the
Interoperability Test Bed Network
2013-08-09 1.2 LAG Design Section was Added
2013-09-30 1.3 Overview Section was Updated
Technical Description of STP

It is worthwhile to briefly review the mechanics of the IEEE Spanning Tree Protocol before
reviewing the implementation of STP in the VDX Switch family. STP, the IEEE 802.1D
bridge protocol, is a Layer 2 link-management protocol that provides path redundancy while
preventing undesirable loops in the network. For a Layer 2 Ethernet network to function
properly, only one active path can exist between any two stations. STP operation is
transparent to end stations that cannot detect whether they are connected to a single LAN
segment or a switched LAN of multiple segments. When you create fault-tolerant
internetworks, you must have a loop-free path between all nodes in a network. The STP
algorithm calculates the best loop-free path throughout a switched Layer 2 network. Layer 2
LAN ports send and receive STP frames at regular intervals. Network devices do not forward
these frames, but use the frames to construct a loop-free path. Multiple active paths between
end stations cause loops in the network. If a loop exists in the network, end stations might
receive duplicate messages and network devices might learn end station MAC addresses on
multiple Layer 2 LAN ports. These conditions result in an unstable network. STP defines a
tree with a Root Bridge and a loop-free path from the root to all network devices in the Layer
2 network. STP forces redundant data paths into a Standby (Blocked) state. If a network
segment in the spanning tree fails and a standby (but not active) path exists, the STP
algorithm recalculates the spanning tree topology and activates the standby path. When two
Layer 2 LAN ports on a network device are part of a loop, the STP port priority and port path
cost setting determine which port is put in the forwarding state and which port is put in the
blocking state. The STP port priority value represents the location of a port in the network
topology and how efficiently that location allows the port to pass traffic. The STP port path
cost value represents media speed.
BPDU
The bridges have to determine the Root Bridge and compute the port roles (root, designated,
or blocked) with only the information that they have. To ensure that each bridge has enough
information, the bridges use special data frames called Bridge Protocol Data Units (BPDUs)
to exchange information about bridge IDs and root path costs. A bridge sends a BPDU frame
using the unique MAC address of the port itself as a source address, and a destination address
of the STP multicast address 01:80:C2:00:00:00. There are three types of BPDUs:
Configuration BPDU (CBPDU), used for Spanning Tree computation
Topology Change Notification (TCN) BPDU, used to announce changes in the network
topology
Topology Change Notification Acknowledgment (TCA)
BPDUs are exchanged regularly (every 2 seconds by default) and enable switches to keep
track of network changes and to start and stop forwarding at ports as required. When a device
is first attached to a switch port, it will not immediately start to forward data. It will instead
go through a number of states while it processes BPDUs and determines the topology of the
network.
STP Interface State Change

When STP is enabled, every switch port that participates in STP starts in the blocking state,
and data traffic is allowed only on those ports that are the part of the active spanning tree
topology, that is, on those active ports that have transitioned to the forwarding state. The
ports that are not participating in the active spanning tree topology are in stand-by mode and
are alternate ports that are in the blocking state. These standby ports in blocking state take
over when an active port in the spanning tree goes down. The possible states of a Layer 2
running STP are:
Blocking: The interface does not forward frames.
Listening: The interface is identified by the spanning tree as one that should participate in
frame forwarding. This is a transitional state after the blocking state.
Learning: The interface prepares to participate in frame forwarding.
Forwarding: The interface forwards frames.
Disabled: The interface is not participating in spanning tree because of a shutdown port,
no link on the port, or no spanning tree instance running on the port.
A port participating in spanning tree 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, blocking, or disabled.
From forwarding to disabled.
STP on Brocade VDX Switches
Standalone Mode
In Brocade Network Operating System (NOS) version 3.0.x, several STP protocols are
supported when the VDX Switch is operating in the Standalone mode, and include:
802.1D Spanning Tree Protocol (STP)
802.1w Rapid Spanning Tree Protocol (RSTP)
Multiple Spanning Tree Protocol (MSTP)
Per-VLAN Spanning Tree Plus (PVST+)
802.1w Rapid Per-VLAN Spanning Tree Plus (RPVST+)
Note:
The Brocade VDX 8770 running NOS version 3.0.x does not support STP.
For on VDX Switches, LAGs are treated as normal links, and by default is enabled for STP, LAGs should not
affect STP interoperability with Cisco Catalyst 6500 Switches.
VCS Fabric Mode

On NOS version 3.0.x, in Brocade VCS Fabric mode, all Spanning Tree Protocols are
disabled, and are not supported. In Brocade VCS Fabric mode, a VCS cluster does not send
BPDUs, but received BPDUs are tunneled through the VCS cluster and are flooded on the all
the switch ports instead of VCS cluster processing as shown below.
BPDU tunneling in the VCS Fabric mode
In Brocade VCS Fabric mode, a network administrator does not want the received BPDUs
forwarded out edge ports directly connected to host devices. The bpdu-drop enable
command is used to drop the received BPDUs on those edge ports, and therefore, BPDUs
wont be forwarded.
Root Bridge Election
Bridge ID
Each switch has a unique bridge identifier (bridge ID), that determines the selection of the
root bridge. The bridge ID is an 8-byte field that is composed of two sub fields:
Bride ID
The value for the bridge priority ranges from 0 to 61440 in steps of 4096. The default value
for the bridge priority is 32768. All the switches in the layer 2 network, participating in STP,
gather information on other switches in the network through an exchange of BPDUs. As the
result of exchange of the BPDUs messages, the switch with the lowest bridge ID is elected as
the Root Bridge.
Bridge Priority
If all the switches are configured with the default bridge priority of 32769, the switch with
the lowest MAC address becomes the Root Bridge. When all the 4 switches are configured
with default bridge priority as shown below, VDX6730-A with the lowest MAC address
becomes the Root Bridge
.
Spanning Tree Topology with All the Switches Configured with Default Bridge Priority
For the bridge priority value occupies the most significant bits of the bridge ID, if a switch is
configured with lower bridge priority that other switches, then the switch becomes the Root
Bridge. When Cat6500-B is configured with Bridge-priority 0 and other switches are
configured with default bridge priority as shown below, Cat6500-B becomes the Root Bridge.
Spanning Tree Topology with a Switch Configured with Lower Bridge Priority
STP Interoperability Design

The following sections review how to configure various types of STP on Brocade VDX
Switches providing interoperability with Cisco 6500 series switches.
802.1D STP
Overview
IEEE standard 802.1D STP assumes one Spanning Tree instance for the entire bridged
network, regardless of the number of VLANs. This implementation reduces CPU load since
only one Spanning Tree instance is maintained for the entire network. However, this
implementation can be used when only one Layer 2 topology is needed in the network. Since
there is one Spanning Tree instance for the entire network, it does not have the ability to load
balance Layer 2 traffic by forwarding some VLANs on one 802.1Q (dot1q) trunk and other
VLANs on another 802.1Q (dot1q) trunk without causing a Spanning Tree loop.
Configurations
The following are IEEE standard 802.1D STP configuration and a sample output from its
show command on VDX:
-------------------
A-VDX6730# show running-config protocol spanning-tree
protocol spanning-tree stp
!
A-VDX6730# show spanning-tree brief
Spanning-tree Mode: Spanning Tree Protocol
Root ID Priority 24576
Address 0017.0fec.f800
Hello Time 2, Max Age 20, Forward Delay 15
Bridge ID Priority 32768
Address 0005.33d3.e2ce
Interface Role Sts Cost Prio Link-type Edge
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Te 0/9 DIS DIS 20000000 128 P2P No
Te 0/17 RTPT FWD 20000 128 P2P No
Te 0/18 ALT BLK 20000 128 P2P No
-------------------
802.1D STP Interoperability
Natively, Cisco Switches run a separate STP instance for each configured and active VLAN
which is called Per-VLAN Spanning Tree (PVST), they do not have configuration to enable
802.1D STP directly. However, using Multiple Spanning Tree Protocol (MSTP), VLANs can
be grouped into a single instance on Cisco Switches. It uses BPDU version 3 which is
backward compatible with the 802.1D STP which uses BPDU version 0.
By default, all the VLANs in a Cisco Catalyst Switch on MSTP mode are grouped into IST0,
which is called an Internal Spanning Tree (IST) and MST instance 0. 802.1D STP is
interoperable with Cisco Catalyst Switches using MST0. Below shows how MSTP is
configured on Cisco Catalyst Switches, and once MSTP is enabled, by default, all the
VLANs are grouped into IST0, that is, MST instance 0 as shown below:
-------------------
Cat6500-A#sh run
Building configuration...
!
!
spanning-tree mode mst
Cat6500-A#sh spanning-tree mst
##### MST0 vlans mapped: 1-4094
Bridge address 0017.0fec.f800 priority 32768 (32768 sysid 0)
Root address 0005.33d3.e2ce priority 32768 (32768 sysid 0)
port Gi1/15 path cost 20000
Regional Root this switch
Operational hello time 2 , forward delay 15, max age 20, txholdcount 6
Configured hello time 2 , forward delay 15, max age 20, max hops 20
Interface Role Sts Cost Prio.Nbr Type
---------------- ---- --- --------- -------- --------------------------------
Gi1/13 Desg FWD 20000 128.13 P2p
Gi1/14 Desg FWD 20000 128.14 P2p
Gi1/15 Root FWD 20000 128.15 P2p <-Bound(STP)
Gi1/16 Desg FWD 20000 128.16 P2p <-Bound(STP)
-------------------
802.1w RSTP
Overview
The IEEE standard 802.1w RSTP can be seen as an evolution of the 802.1D standard. It
provides rapid convergence following the failure of a switch, a switch port, or a LAN. It
provides rapid convergence of edge ports, new root ports, and ports connected through point-
to-point links.
The 802.1D STP terminology remains primarily the same. Most parameters have been left
unchanged, so network administrators familiar with 802.1D STP can rapidly configure the
new protocol comfortably. 802.1w RSTP can also revert back to 802.1D STP in order to
interoperate with legacy bridges on a per-port basis. This drops the benefits it introduces.
The interface states for every Layer 2 interface running RSTP are as below:
Learning: The interface prepares to participate in frame forwarding.
Forwarding: The interface forwards frames.
Discarding: The interface discards frames. Note that the 802.1D disabled, blocking, and
listening states are merged into the RSTP discarding state. Ports in the discarding state do
not take part in the active topology and do not learn MAC addresses.
Configurations
The following are IEEE 802.1w RSTP configurations and a sample output from its show
command on VDX:
-------------------
protocol spanning-tree rstp
A-VDX6730#show spanning-tree brief
Spanning-tree Mode: Rapid Spanning Tree Protocol
Hello Time 2, Max Age 20, Forward Delay 15, Tx-HoldCount 6
Migrate Time 3 sec
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Te 0/9 DES FWD 2000 128 P2P No
Te 0/17 DES FWD 20000 128 P2P No
Te 0/18 DES FWD 20000 128 P2P No
-------------------
801.w RSTP Interoperability
Natively, Cisco Catalyst Switches run a separate STP instance for each configured and active
VLAN which is called Rapid Per-VLAN Spanning Tree (RPVST), they do not configuration
option to enable 802.1w RSTP in a direct manner. However, using MSTP, VLANs can be
grouped into a single instance on Cisco Catalyst Switches, and MSTP is fully compatible
with RSTP bridges, in that MSTP BPDUs can be interpreted by an RSTP bridge as an RSTP
BPDUs.
By default, all the VLANs in a Cisco Catalyst switch in MSTP mode are grouped into IST0,
which is called an Internal Spanning Tree (IST) and MST instance 0. 802.1w STP is
interoperable with Cisco Switches using MST0. The following shows how MSTP is
configured on Cisco switches, and once MSTP is enabled, by default, all the VLANs are
grouped into IST0 and MST instance 0 as shown below:
-------------------
Cat6500-A#sh run
Building configuration...
!
!
Cat6500-A#sh spanning-tree
MST0
Spanning tree enabled protocol mstp
Cost 20000
Port 15 (GigabitEthernet1/15)
Hello Time 2 sec Max Age 20 sec Forward Delay 15 sec
Bridge ID Priority 32768 (priority 32768 sys-id-ext 0)
------------------- ---- --- --------- -------- ------------------------------
Gi1/13 Desg FWD 20000 128.13 P2p
Gi1/14 Desg FWD 20000 128.14 P2p
Gi1/15 Root FWD 20000 128.15 P2p <-Bound(RSTP)
Gi1/16 Desg FWD 20000 128.16 P2p
-------------------
PVST+
Overview
Per-VLAN Spanning Tree+ (PVST+) maintains a Spanning Tree instance for each VLAN
configured in the network. It uses 802.1Q (dot1q) trucking and allows a VLAN trunk to be
forwarding for some VLANs while blocking for other VLANs. Since PVST treats each
VLAN as a separate network, it has the ability to load balance Layer 2 traffic by forwarding
some VLANs on one trunk and other VLANs on another trunk without causing a forwarding
loop.
PVST+ is not a scalable model when there are many VLANs in the network as it consumes a
lot of CPU cycles. By default, Cisco Catalyst switches enable PVST+ instead of 802.1D STP.
Configurations
The following are PVST+ configurations and a sample output from its show command on
VDX:
-------------------
protocol spanning-tree pvst
!
VLAN 501
Spanning-tree Mode: Per-VLAN Spanning Tree Protocol
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Te 0/17 DES FWD 20000 128 P2P No
Te 0/18 BKUP BLK 20000 128 P2P No
VLAN 502
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Te 0/17 DES FWD 20000 128 P2P No
Te 0/18 BKUP BLK 20000 128 P2P No
-------------------
PVST+ Interoperability
Brocade VDX Switches support PVST+, but PVST is proprietary to Cisco and is not
supported. To interoperate with Cisco Switches in PVST+ mode, the following spanning-tree
bpdu-mac command should be configured in the interfaces that are connected to those Cisco
Switches. Otherwise, VDX and Cisco Switches will have two different Root Bridges as
shown below which indicates PVST+ does not operate correctly.
-------------------
switch(config)#interface tengigabitethernet x/x
switch(conf-if-te-0/12)#spanning-tree bpdu-mac 0100.0ccc.cccd
-------------------
-------------------
VLAN 501
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Te 0/17 DES FWD 20000 128 P2P No
Te 0/18 BKUP BLK 20000 128 P2P No
VLAN0501
Spanning tree enabled protocol ieee
Address 0017.0fec.f9f5
This bridge is the root
Aging Time 300
------------------- ---- --- --------- -------- ------------------------------
Gi1/13 Desg FWD 4 128.13 P2p
Gi1/14 Desg FWD 4 128.14 P2p
Gi1/15 Desg FWD 4 128.15 P2p
Gi1/16 Desg FWD 4 128.16 P2p
-------------------
MSTP
Overview
The IEEE 802.1s MSTP standard creates multiple loop-free active spanning tree topologies
on a single physical topology. MSTP allows multiple VLANs to be mapped to the same
spanning tree instance (forwarding path) reducing the number of spanning tree instances
needed to support a large number of VLANs.
Each MSTP instance has a Spanning Tree topology independent of other Spanning Tree
instances. With MSTP you can have multiple forwarding paths for data traffic. A failure in
one instance does not affect other instances. With MSTP, you are able to more effectively
utilize the physical resources present in the network and achieve better load balancing of
VLAN traffic.
The following diagram shows a common design. Switch A with 1000 VLANs is redundantly
connected to two distribution Switches, D1 and D2. In this topology, when users are
connected to access Switch A, the network administrator is able to achieve load balancing on
the access switch uplinks by mapping half of the 1000 VLANs to a different MSTP instance.
In MSTP mode, RSTP is automatically enabled to provide rapid convergence.
Load balancing using MSTP Instances

Configurations
Multiple switches must be configured consistently with the same MSTP configuration to
participate in multiple spanning tree instances. A group of interconnected switches that have
the same MSTP configuration is called an MSTP region.
Brocade supports 32 MSTP instances and one MSTP region. MSTP introduces a hierarchical
way of managing switch domains using regions. Switches that share common MSTP
configuration attributes belong to a region. The MSTP configuration determines the MSTP
region where each switch resides. The common MSTP configuration attributes are as follows:
Alphanumeric configuration name (32 bytes)
Configuration revision number (2 bytes)
-------------------
VDX6730-A# show running-config protocol spanning-tree
protocol spanning-tree mstp
instance 1 vlan 501,503
instance 1 priority 0
region VDX
revision 10
VDX6730-B# show running-config protocol spanning-tree
region VDX
revision 10
VDX6730-A# show spanning-tree mst brief
Spanning-tree Mode: Multiple Spanning Tree Protocol
CIST Root ID Priority 32768
CIST Bridge ID Priority 32768
CIST Regional Root ID Priority 32768
Configured Hello Time 2, Max Age 20, Forward Delay 15
Max Hops 20, Tx-HoldCount 6
CIST Root Hello Time 2, Max Age 20, Forward Delay 15, Max Hops 20
CIST Root path cost 0
Interface Role Sts Cost Prio Link-type Boundary Edge
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Te 0/9 DES FWD 2000 128 P2P Yes No
Te 0/17 DES FWD 20000 128 P2P No No
Instance: 1; Vlans: 501, 503
MSTI Root Address 0005.33d3.e2ce Priority 1
MSTI Bridge Address 0005.33d3.e2ce Priority 1
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
MSTI Root Address 0005.33f3.dcc7 Priority 2
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Te 0/17 RTPT FWD 20000 128 P2P No No
Te 0/18 ALT DSC 20000 128 P2P No No
-------------------
MSTP Interoperability
Brocade VDX Switches support IEEE standard 802.1s MSTP as do Cisco Catalyst switches
allowing Brocade VDX Switches in MSTP mode to interoperate with Cisco Switches in
MSTP mode.
To interoperate with certain legacy Cisco Switches not conforming to standard IEEE 802.1s
MSTP that support pre-standard MSTP, the cisco-interoperability command is
required. The default is Cisco interoperability is disabled. This command is necessary
because the version 3 length field in the MSTP BPDU on certain legacy Cisco switches
does not conform to the current standard IEEE 802.1s MSTP. It shouldnt be used to
interoperate with Cisco Switches conforming to standard IEEE 802.1s MSTP:
-------------------
switch(config)#protocol spanning-tree mstp
switch(config-mstp)#cisco-interoperability enable
-------------------
RPVST+
Overview
RPVST+ protocol is IEEE standard 802.1w RSTP implementation on a per VLAN basis.
RPVST+ protocol uses the RSTP state machine, and has one instance of spanning tree for
each VLAN on the switch. PVST+ is not a scalable model when there are many VLANs in
the network, as it consumes a lot of CPU cycles. A reasonable compromise between the two
extremes of RSTP and R-PVST+ is MSTP.
Configurations
The following are IEEE standard 802.1w RSTP configurations and an sample output from its
show command on VDX:
-------------------
protocol spanning-tree rpvst
!
VLAN 501
Spanning-tree Mode: Rapid Per-VLAN Spanning Tree Protocol
Migrate Time 3 sec
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Te 0/5 RTPT FWD 2000 128 P2P No
Te 0/6 ALT DSC 2000 128 P2P No
VLAN 502
Migrate Time 3 sec
---------------------------------------------------------------------
-------------------
RPVST+ Interoperability
Brocade VDX Switches support RPVST+, but RPVST is proprietary to Cisco and is not
supported. To interoperate with Cisco Switches in RPVST+ mode, the following spanning-
tree bpdu-mac command should be enabled in the interfaces that are connected to those Cisco
Switches. Otherwise, VDX and Cisco Switches may have two different Root Bridges as
shown below which indicates PVST+ does not operate correctly.
-------------------
switch(config)#interface Tengigabitethernet x/x
switch(conf-if-te-0/12)#spanning-tree bpdu-mac 0100.0ccc.cccd
-------------------
-------------------
VDX6730-A# show spanning-tree vlan 501 brief
VLAN 501
Migrate Time 3 sec
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Te 0/6 BKUP DSC 2000 128 P2P No
Cat6500-A#sh spanning-tree vlan 501
VLAN0501
Spanning tree enabled protocol rstp
Aging Time 300
------------------- ---- --- --------- -------- -----------------------------
Gi1/14 Desg FWD 4 128.14 P2p
Te2/1 Desg FWD 2 128.129 P2p
Te2/2 Desg FWD 2 128.130 P2p
Te2/3 Desg FWD 2 128.131 P2p
-------------------
LAG Design
LAG Overview
LAG (Link Aggregation Group) allows you to bundle multiple physical Ethernet links to
form a single logical trunk providing increased total bandwidth, as well as redundancy. The
LAG is viewed as a single link by connected devices, the STP, IEEE 802.1Q VLANs, and so
on. When one physical member link in the LAG fails, the other member links stay up and
there is no disruption to traffic. Note that when connecting switches in different areas of a
building with LAGs, a best design practice is to run the cables over different paths to
minimize the chances of both cables getting cut simultaneously.
Static LAG
In static LAG, member links are added into a LAG without exchanging LACP PDUs between
the partner systems. The distribution and collection of frames on static LAG is determined by
the operational status and administrative state of the local member links, and therefore, static
LAG does not detect misconfigurations on the local end or the remote end of the
link. Further, if a switch is used as a media converter between the LAG partner systems, it
can happen that the local end is up, but the remote end is down. In this case, the local end still
sends data via this connection, but the data transfer is interrupted.
Dynamic LAG
In dynamic LAG, LACP, an IEEE 802.3ad standards-based protocol, is used to negotiate
which links can be added and removed from a LAG. Typically, two partner systems sharing
multiple physical Ethernet links can aggregate a number of those physical links using LACP.
LACP creates a LAG on both partner systems, identifies the LAG by the LAG ID, and
negotiates LACP timeout value. All links with the same administrative key and all links that
are connected to the same partner switch become members of the LAG. LACP continuously
exchanges LACP PDUs to monitor the health of each member link.
LACP negotiating state operates in two modes:
Passive mode: LACP responds to LACP PDUs initiated by its partner system, but does
not initiate the LACP PDU exchange.
Active mode: LACP initiates the LACP PDU exchange regardless of whether the partner
system sends LACPDUs.
The LACP timeout setting is used to specify the number of seconds that the system waits
before sending control packets to the peer system. If LACP sends three consecutive control
packets without receiving a response from the partner system, LACP removes that member
link from the LAG. Whenever the LACP timeout value is changed on a LAG, LACP
renegotiates the links that it uses for aggregation on that LAG. The two LACP possible
timeout values are:
Short: When the timeout value is set to Short, the VDX switch sends LACP control
packets to the partner system every 1 second. If the timeout value is set to Short and
LACP receives no response from the partner after sending 3 consecutive packets, LACP
removes the link from LAG in 3 seconds.
Long: When the timeout value is set to Long, the VDX switch sends LACP PDU to the
partner system every 30 seconds. If the timeout value is set to Long and LACP receives no
response from partner after sending 3 consecutive packets, LACP removes the link from
LAG in 90 seconds. The default value for LACP timeout is Long.
LAG Configurations
A LAG with two 10GEs as member ports is configured between the VDX6730-A Switch and
the Catalyst 6500-A Switch. The LACP negotiating state is set to Active mode on the both
switches, and the LACP timeout is set to Long on both switches:
---------------------
VDX6730-A# show running-config interface Port-channel 1
interface Port-channel 1
switchport
switchport mode trunk
switchport trunk allowed vlan all
switchport trunk tag native-vlan
no shutdown
VDX6730-A# show running-config interface TenGigabitEthernet 0/5
interface TenGigabitEthernet 0/5
channel-group 1 mode active type standard
!--- The LAG uses standard LACP, and LACP negotiating state is at active mode.
lacp timeout long
!--- The LACP PDU is sent for every 30 seconds, and the LACP timeout value (when no packet is
received from the peer) is 90 seconds.
no shutdown
lacp timeout long
no shutdown
Cat6500-A#sh run interface Port-channel 1
interface Port-channel1
switchport
switchport trunk encapsulation dot1q
load-interval 30
Cat6500-A#sh run interface TenGigabitEthernet 2/1
interface TenGigabitEthernet2/1
switchport
load-interval 30
channel-group 1 mode active
end
Cat6500-A#sh run int TenGigabitEthernet 2/4
switchport
load-interval 30
-------------------------
Interoperability Test Results
This section offers test results from the Brocade test lab, to provide design guidance on the
VDX Switches STP interoperability with Cisco Switches.
Interoperability Test Bed Diagram
The figure below shows the STP interoperability test bed network diagram.
STP Interoperability Test Bed Network
Interoperability Test Methodology

The STP interoperability test bed consists of two Brocade VDX-6730 and two Cisco Catalyst
6500 Switches. The VDX-6730 Switches are running NOS 3.0.1a in Standalone mode, and
the Cisco Catalyst 6500 Switches are running IOS 122-33.SXI. For the traffic sent through
the network, flows are established using the Spirent Test Center (STC) tool. The 300 Mbps
traffic flows are sent on each STC port and distributed using full mesh and the packet size of
the flows is 128 bytes. All interconnections between the VDX-6730 Switches and the
Catalyst Switches in the network are 10GE, and all the ports are enabled as Layer 2 trunks
using 802.1Q (dot1q) allowing all VLANs.
LAG Interoperability Test Result

LAG Configurations
Two LACP enabled LAGs with two 10GEs as member ports are configured between
VDX6730 Switches and Catalyst 6500 Switches, and the following are the LAG
configurations used in the interoperability test:
---------------------
switchport
no shutdown
switchport
no shutdown
lacp timeout long
!--- The LACP PDU is sent for every 30 seconds, and the LACP timeout value (when no packet is
received from the peer) is 90 seconds.
no shutdown
lacp timeout long
no shutdown
lacp timeout long
no shutdown
lacp timeout long
no shutdown
Cat6500-A#sh run interface Port-channel 1
switchport
load-interval 30
Cat6500-A#sh run interface TenGigabitEthernet 2/1
switchport
load-interval 30
end
Cat6500-A#sh run int TenGigabitEthernet 2/4
switchport
load-interval 30
Cat6500-B#sh run interface Port-channel 2
switchport
load-interval 30
Cat6500-B#sh run interface TenGigabitEthernet 2/1
switchport
load-interval 30
Cat6500-B#sh run interface TenGigabitEthernet 2/4
switchport
load-interval 30
-------------------------
LAG Interoperability Verification
The following verifies the two LACP enabled LAGs interoperate between VDX6730
Switches and Cisco 6500 Switches:
-------------------------
A-VDX6730# show port-channel detail
LACP Aggregator: Po 1
Aggregator type: Standard
Actor System ID - 0x8000,00-05-33-d3-e2-ae
Admin Key: 0001 - Oper Key 0001
Receive link count: 2 - Transmit link count: 2
Individual: 0 - Ready: 1
Partner System ID - 0x8000,00-17-0f-ec-f8-00
Partner Oper Key 0001
Member ports:
Link: Te 0/5 (0x18028004) sync: 1
Link: Te 0/7 (0x18038006) sync: 1 *
LACP Aggregator: Po 2
Aggregator type: Standard
Actor System ID - 0x8000,00-05-33-d3-e2-ae
Admin Key: 0002 - Oper Key 0002
Receive link count: 2 - Transmit link count: 2
Individual: 0 - Ready: 1
Partner System ID - 0x8000,00-19-07-62-98-00
Partner Oper Key 0002
Member ports:
Link: Te 0/6 (0x18030005) sync: 1
Link: Te 0/8 (0x18040007) sync: 1 *
Cat6500-A#sh etherchannel 1 detail
Group state = L2
Ports: 2 Maxports = 16
Port-channels: 1 Max Port-channels = 16
Protocol: LACP
Minimum Links: 0
Ports in the group:
-------------------
Port: Te2/1
------------
Port state = Up Mstr In-Bndl
Channel group = 1 Mode = Active Gcchange = -
Port-channel = Po1 GC = - Pseudo port-channel = Po1
Port index = 1 Load = 0x55 Protocol = LACP
Flags: S - Device is sending Slow LACPDUs. F - Device is sending fast LACPDUs.
A - Device is in active mode. P - Device is in passive mode.
Local information:
LACP port Admin Oper Port Port
Port Flags State Priority Key Key Number State
Te2/1 SA bndl 32768 0x1 0x1 0x202 0x3D
! --- SA indicates the Port-channel's LACP timeout is long, and its LACP negotiating
state is at active mode.
Partner's information:
Partner Partner LACP Partner Partner Partner Partner Partner
Port Flags State Port Priority Admin Key Oper Key Port Number Port State
Te2/1 SA bndl 32768 0x0 0x1 0x5 0x3D
Age of the port in the current state: 3d:06h:37m:51s
Port: Te2/4
------------
Port state = Up Mstr In-Bndl
Channel group = 1 Mode = Active Gcchange = -
Port-channel = Po1 GC = - Pseudo port-channel = Po1
Port index = 0 Load = 0xAA Protocol = LACP
Flags: S - Device is sending Slow LACPDUs F - Device is sending fast LACPDUs.
A - Device is in active mode. P - Device is in passive mode.
Local information:
LACP port Admin Oper Port Port
Port Flags State Priority Key Key Number State
Te2/4 SA bndl 32768 0x1 0x1 0x205 0x3D
! --- SA indicates the Port-channel's LACP timeout is long, and its LACP negotiating state is
at active mode.
Partner's information:
Partner Partner LACP Partner Partner Partner Partner Partner
Port Flags State Port Priority Admin Key Oper Key Port Number Port State
Te2/4 SA bndl 32768 0x0 0x1 0x7 0x3D
Age of the port in the current state: 3d:06h:37m:51s
Port-channels in the group:
----------------------
Port-channel: Po1 (Primary Aggregator)
------------
Age of the Port-channel = 47d:21h:57m:59s
Logical slot/port = 14/1 Number of ports = 2
HotStandBy port = null
Port state = Port-channel Ag-Inuse
Protocol = LACP
Fast-switchover = disabled
Ports in the Port-channel:
Index Load Port EC state No of bits
------+------+------+------------------+-----------
1 55 Te2/1 Active 4
0 AA Te2/4 Active 4
Time since last port bundled: 3d:06h:37m:53s Te2/4
Time since last port Un-bundled: 4d:23h:16m:14s Te2/4
Last applied Hash Distribution Algorithm: Fixed
----------------
Test Result Summary
Based the LAGs operational state, the test result shows the LACP enabled LAGs
interoperate between VDX6730 Switches and Cisco 6500 Switches.
802.1D STP Interoperability Test Result
Configurations
The following is the configuration used in the 802.1D STP interoperability test. 'protocol
spanning-tree stp' is configured on VDX6730-A and VDX6730-B each to enable the 802.1.D
STP, and 'spanning-tree mode mst' is configured on Cat6500-A and Cat6500-B each to
enable MSTP instance 0 which is default instance for the MSTP mode. 'spanning-tree mst 0
priority 0' on Cat6500-A is set in an effort to secure the Root Bridge position:
-------------------
Cat6500-A#sh running-config | in spanning-tree
spanning-tree mst 0 priority 0
Cat6500-B#sh running-config | in spanning-tree
-------------------
Verification for Spanning Tree Topology
In the 802.1D STP interoperability test, for the Cat6500-A has lower bridge priority than
other switches, it is elected as the Root Bridge, and therefore, the Port-channel 2 of the
VDX6730-A and the TenGig 0/6 of the VDX6730-B are in the Blocked state as shown
below:
802.1D STP Topology
-------------------
VDX6730-A#show spanning-tree brief
Root ID Priority 0
!--- This is the MAC address of the Cat6500-A, the Root Bridge.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Po 1 RTPT FWD 2000 128 P2P No
Po 2 ALT BLK 2000 128 P2P No
VDX6730-B#show spanning-tree brief
Root ID Priority 0
Address 0005.33f3.dcc7
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Te 0/6 ALT BLK 2000 128 P2P No
MST0
Root ID Priority 0
------------------- ---- --- --------- -------- ------------------------------
Gi1/14 Desg FWD 20000 128.14 P2p
Te2/2 Desg FWD 2000 128.130 P2p Bound(STP)
Te2/3 Desg FWD 2000 128.131 P2p
Po1 Desg FWD 1000 128.1665 P2p Bound(STP)
-------------------
In the 802.1D STP interoperability test, convergence time for a link or a LAG failure is of
around 30 seconds, and convergence time for the recovery from the link or the LAG failure is
of around 30 seconds.
Test Result Summary

Based on verification of Spanning Tree topology and convergence time, the test result shows
the 802.1D STP of Brocade VDX interoperates with MSTP instance 0 of Cisco Catalyst 6500
which is the default instance for MSTP, and that LAGs are treated as normal links in the
802.1D STP.
802.1w RSTP Interoperability Test Result

Configurations
The following is the configurations used in the 802.1w RSTP interoperability test. 'protocol
spanning-tree rstp' is configured on VDX6730-A and VDX6730-B each to enable the
802.1.D STP, and 'spanning-tree mode mst' is configured on Cat6500-A and Cat6500-B each
to enable MSTP instance 0 which is default instance for the MSTP mode. 'spanning-tree mst
0 priority 0' on Cat6500-A is set in an effort to secure the Root Bridge position:
-------------------
Catalyst-A#sh running-config | in spanning-tree
spanning-tree mst 0 priority 0
Catalyst-B#sh running-config | in spanning-tree
-------------------

In the 802.1w RSTP interoperability test, for the Cat6500-A has lower bridge priority than
other switches, it is elected as the Root Bridge, and therefore, the Port-channel 2 of the
VDX6730-A and the TenGig 0/6 of the VDX6730-B are in the Discarding (Blocked) state as
shown below.
802.1w RSTP Topology
-------------------
VDX6730-A# show spanning-tree brief

Root ID Priority 0
Migrate Time 3 sec
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Po 2 ALT DSC 2000 128 P2P No
VDX6730-B# show spanning-tree brief
Root ID Priority 0
Migrate Time 3 sec
---------------------------------------------------------------------
MST0
Root ID Priority 0
------------------- ---- --- --------- -------- --------------------------
Gi1/14 Desg FWD 20000 128.14 P2p
Te2/2 Desg FWD 2000 128.130 P2p
Te2/3 Desg FWD 2000 128.131 P2p
Po1 Desg FWD 1000 128.1665 P2p
-------------------
In the 802.1w RSTP interoperability test, convergence time for a link failure or a LAG failure
is of around 80 msec, and convergence time for the recovery from the link failure or the LAG
failure is of around 4 seconds.
Test Result Summary
Based on verification for Spanning Tree topology and convergence time, the test result shows
the 802.1w RSTP of Brocade VDX interoperates with that of Cisco Catalyst 6500, and that
LAGs are treated as a normal link in the 802.1w RSTP.
PVST+ Interoperability Test Result

Configurations
The following is the configuration used in the PVST+ interoperability test. Bridge priority is set to 0 for
VLAN 501, 503 on the VDX6730-A, and bridge priority is set to 0 for VLAN 502, 504 on the Cat6500-
A. 'protocol spanning-tree pvst' is configured on VDX6730-A and VDX6730-B each to enable PVST+,
and 'spanning-tree mode pvst' is configured on Cat6500-A and Cat6500-B each to enable PVST+.
'vlan 501 priority 0' and 'vlan 503 priority' are set on VDX6730-
A in an effort to secure the Root Bridge position for VLAN 501 and 503. 'spanning-tree vlan 502,504
priority 0' is set on Cat6500-A in an effort to secure the Root Bridge position for VLAN 502 and 504.
After 'protocol spanning-tree pvst' is configured on the VDX6730 Switches, 'spanning-tree bpdu-mac
0100.0ccc.cccd' should be configured on the VDX6730 Switches' interfaces that are connected to
Catalyst 6500 Switches:
-------------------
vlan 501 priority 0
vlan 503 priority 0
switchport
spanning-tree bpdu-mac 0100.0ccc.cccd
!--- To interoperate with Cisco Switches in PVST+ mode, this should be configured in the
interfaces that are connected to those Cisco Switches.
no shutdown
switchport
no shutdown
VDX6730-B# show running-config interface TenGigabitEthernet 0/5
switchport
no shutdown
switchport
no shutdown
spanning-tree mode pvst
spanning-tree vlan 502,504 priority 0
spanning-tree mode pvst
-------------------
VLAN 501, 503
For the VDX6730-A has a bridge priority that is lower than all the other switches, it is elected
as the Root Bridge. Therefore, the TenGi 0/6 of the VDX6730-B and the TenGi 2/3 of the
Cat6500-B is in the Blocked state as shown in Figure 5-3.
PVST+ Topology for VLAN 501, 503

-------------------
VLAN 501
!--- This is the MAC address of the VDX6730-A, the Root Bridge.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Po 1 DES FWD 2000 128 P2P No
VDX6730-B# show spanning-tree vlan 501 brief
VLAN 501
---------------------------------------------------------------------
VLAN0501
Cost 1
Port 1665 (Port-channel1)
Aging Time 300
------------------- ---- --- --------- -------- ------------------------------
Gi1/14 Desg FWD 4 128.14 P2p
Te2/2 Desg FWD 2 128.130 P2p
Te2/3 Desg FWD 2 128.131 P2p
Po1 Root FWD 1 128.1665 P2p
Cat6500-B#sh spanning-tree vlan 501
VLAN0501
Cost 1
Address 0019.0762.99f5
Aging Time 300
------------------- ---- --- --------- -------- ------------------------------
Gi1/14 Desg FWD 4 128.14 P2p
Te2/2 Desg FWD 2 128.130 P2p
Te2/3 Altn BLK 2 128.131 P2p
-------------------
VLAN 502, 504
For the Cat6500-A has a bridge priority that is lower than all the other switches, it is elected as the
Root Bridge. Therefore, the Port-channel 2 of the VDX6730-A and the TenGig 0/6 of the VDX6730-B
are in Blocked state as shown below.
PVST+ Topology for VLAN 502,504
-------------------
VLAN 502
Root ID Priority 0
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Po 2 ALT BLK 2000 128 P2P No
VDX6730-B# show spanning-tree vlan 502 brief
VLAN 502
Root ID Priority 0
---------------------------------------------------------------------
VLAN0502
Root ID Priority 0
Aging Time 300
------------------- ---- --- --------- -------- -----------------------------
Gi1/14 Desg FWD 4 128.14 P2p
Te2/1 Desg FWD 2 128.129 P2p
Te2/2 Desg FWD 2 128.130 P2p
Te2/3 Desg FWD 2 128.131 P2p
VLAN0502
Root ID Priority 0
Cost 2
Port 131 (TenGigabitEthernet2/3)
Address 0019.0762.99f6
Aging Time 300
------------------- ---- --- --------- -------- -----------------------------
Gi1/14 Desg FWD 4 128.14 P2p
Te2/2 Desg FWD 2 128.130 P2p
Te2/3 Root FWD 2 128.131 P2p
Te6/4 Desg FWD 2 128.644 P2p
Po2 Desg FWD 1 128.1665 P2p
-------------------
In the PVST+ interoperability test, convergence time for a link failure or a LAG failure is of
around 47 seconds, and convergence time for the recovery from the link failure or the LAG
Test Result Summary
Based on verification for Spanning Tree topology and convergence time, the test result shows
the PVST+ of Brocade VDX interoperates with that of Cisco Catalyst 6500, and that that
LAGs are treated as normal links in the PVST+.
MSTP Interoperability Test Result

Configurations
The following is the configurations used in the MSTP interoperability test, and 3 MSTP
instances, including default instance 0, are enabled on the VDX and Cisco Cat6500
Switches.'protocol spanning-tree mstp' is configured on VDX6730-A and VDX6730-B each
to enable MSTP, and instance 1, 2 for VLAN 501,503 and VLAN 502,504, region of VDX,
and revision of 10 are set under 'protocol spanning-tree mstp' mode. 'spanning-tree mst 0-1
priority 0' is configured on the Cat6500-A in an effort to secure the Root Bridge for MSTP
instance 0 and 1, and 'instance 2 priority 0' on the VDX6730-A is configured in an effort to
secure the Root Bridge position for MSTP instance 2:
-------------------
VDX6730-A#show running-config protocol spanning-tree
!--- This is configured in an effort to secure the Root Bridge position for MSTP instance 2.
region VDX
revision 10
region VDX
revision 10
Cat6500-A#sh run | be spanning-tree
!
spanning-tree mst configuration
name VDX
revision 10
instance 1 vlan 501, 503
!
spanning-tree mst 0-1 priority 0
!--- This is configured in an effort to secure the Root Bridge for MSTP instance 0 and
1.
Cat6500-B#sh run | be spanning-tree
!
spanning-tree mst configuration
name VDX
revision 10
-------------------
MSTP instance 0, 1
For the Catalyst-A has a bridge priority that is lower than all the other switches, it is elected
as the Root Bridge. Therefore, the Port-channel 2 and the Tengig 2/2 of the Catalyst-B are in
the Blocked state as shown below.
MSTP Instance 0,1 Topology
-------------------
VDX6730-A# show spanning-tree mst brief
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Po 1 RTPT FWD 2000 128 P2P No No
Po 2 DES FWD 2000 128 P2P No No
MSTI Root Address 0017.0fec.f800 Priority 1
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Po 1 RTPT FWD 2000 128 P2P No No
VDX6730-B# show spanning-tree mst brief
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
MSTI Root Address 0017.0fec.f800 Priority 1
MSTI Bridge Address 0005.33f3.dcc7 Priority 32769
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Cat6500-A#sh spanning-tree mst 0-1
##### MST0 vlans mapped: 1-500,505-4094
Root this switch for the CIST
---------------- ---- --- --------- -------- --------------------------------
Gi1/14 Desg FWD 20000 128.14 P2p
Te2/2 Desg FWD 2000 128.130 P2p
Te2/3 Desg FWD 2000 128.131 P2p
Po1 Desg FWD 1000 128.1665 P2p
##### MST1 vlans mapped: 501,503
Root this switch for MST1
---------------- ---- --- --------- -------- --------------------------------
Gi1/14 Desg FWD 20000 128.14 P2p
Te2/2 Desg FWD 2000 128.130 P2p
Te2/3 Desg FWD 2000 128.131 P2p
Po1 Desg FWD 1000 128.1665 P2p
Cat6500-B#sh spanning-tree mst 0-1
##### MST0 vlans mapped: 1-500,505-4094
Bridge address 0019.0762.9800 priority 32768 (32768 sysid 0)
Root address 0017.0fec.f800 priority 0 (0 sysid 0)
port Te2/3 path cost 0
Regional Root address 0017.0fec.f800 priority 0 (0 sysid 0)
internal cost 2000 rem hops 19
---------------- ---- --- --------- -------- --------------------------------
Gi1/14 Desg FWD 20000 128.14 P2p
Te2/2 Altn BLK 2000 128.130 P2p
Te2/3 Root FWD 2000 128.131 P2p
Po2 Altn BLK 1000 128.1665 P2p
Root address 0017.0fec.f800 priority 1 (0 sysid 1)
port Te2/3 cost 2000 rem hops 19
---------------- ---- --- --------- -------- --------------------------------
Gi1/14 Desg FWD 20000 128.14 P2p
Te2/2 Altn BLK 2000 128.130 P2p
Te2/3 Root FWD 2000 128.131 P2p
Po2 Altn BLK 1000 128.1665 P2p
-------------------
MSTP instance 2
For the VDX6730-A has lower bridge priority than other switches, it is elected as the Root
Bridge, and therefore, the TenGig 0/6 of the VDX6730-B and the TenGig 2/3 of the Cat6500-
B are in the Blocked state as shown below.
MSTP Instance 2 Topology
-------------------
VDX6730-A# show spanning-tree mst instance 2 brief
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Po 2 DES FWD 2000 128 P2P
VDX6730-B# show spanning-tree mst instance 2 br
MSTI Bridge Address 0005.33f3.dcc7 Priority 32770
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Te 0/6 ALT DSC 2000 128 P2P No No
Cat6500-A# sh spanning-tree mst 2
Root address0005.33d3.e2ce priority 2 (0 sysid 2)
port Po1 cost 1000 rem hops 19
---------------- ---- --- --------- -------- --------------------------------
Gi1/14 Desg FWD 20000 128.14 P2p
Te2/2 Desg FWD 2000 128.130 P2p
Te2/3 Desg FWD 2000 128.131 P2p
Po1 Root FWD 1000 128.1665 P2p
Cat6500-B# sh spanning-tree mst 2
Root address 0005.33d3.e2ce priority 2 (0 sysid 2)
port Po2 cost 1000 rem hops 19
---------------- ---- --- --------- -------- --------------------------------
Gi1/14 Desg FWD 20000 128.14 P2p
Te2/2 Desg FWD 2000 128.130 P2p
Te2/3 Altn BLK 2000 128.131 P2p
Po2 Root FWD 1000 128.1665 P2p
-------------------
In the MSTP interoperability test, convergence time for a link failure or a LAG failure is of
Test Result Summary

Based on verification of Spanning Tree and convergence time, the test result shows the
MSTP of Brocade VDX interoperates with that of Cisco Catalyst 6500, and that LAGs are
treated as normal links in the MSTP.
RPVST+ Interoperability Test Result

Configurations
The following is the configuration used in the RPVST+ interoperability test. 'protocol
spanning-tree rpvst' is configured on VDX6730-A and VDX6730-B each to enable PVST+, and
'spanning-tree mode rapid-pvst' is configured on Cat6500-A and Cat6500-B each to enable RPVST+.
'vlan 501 priority 0' and 'vlan 503 priority' are set on VDX6730-A in an effort to secure the Root Bridge
position for VLAN 501 and 503. 'spanning-tree vlan 502,504 priority 0' is set on Cat6500-A in an effort
to secure the Root Bridge position for VLAN 502 and 504. After 'protocol spanning-tree pvst' is
configured on the VDX6730 Switches, 'spanning-tree bpdu-mac 0100.0ccc.cccd' should be configured
on the VDX6730 Switches' interfaces that are connected to Catalyst 6500 Switches:
-------------------
vlan 501 priority 0
vlan 503 priority 0
!--- This is configured in an effort to secure the Root Bridge position for VLAN 501 and 503.
switchport
no shutdown
switchport
no shutdown
switchport
no shutdown
switchport
no shutdown
spanning-tree mode rapid-pvst
spanning-tree vlan 502,504 priority 0
!--- This is configured in an effort to secure the Root Bridge position for VLAN 502 and 504.
spanning-tree mode rapid-pvst
-------------------

VLAN 501, 503
For the VDX6730-A has lower bridge priority than other switches, it is elected as the Root Bridge.
Therefore, the TenGi 0/6 of the VDX6730-B and the TenGi 2/3 of the Cat6500-B is in Discarding
(Blocked) state as shown below.
RPVST+ Topology for VLAN 501,503
-------------------
VDX6730-A# show spanning-tree vlan 501 br
VLAN 501
Migrate Time 3 sec
---------------------------------------------------------------------
VDX6730-B# show spanning-tree vlan 501 br
VLAN 501
Migrate Time 3 sec
---------------------------------------------------------------------
VLAN0501
Cost 1
Aging Time 300
----------------- ---- --- --------- -------- --------------------------------
Gi1/14 Desg FWD 4 128.14 P2p
Te2/2 Desg FWD 2 128.130 P2p
Te2/3 Desg FWD 2 128.131 P2p
VLAN0501
Cost 1
Address 0019.0762.99f5
Aging Time 300
----------------- ---- --- --------- -------- --------------------------------
Gi1/14 Desg FWD 4 128.14 P2p
Te2/2 Desg FWD 2 128.130 P2p
Te2/3 Altn BLK 2 128.131 P2p
-------------------
VLAN 502, 504

For the Cat6500-A has lower bridge priority than other switches, it is elected as the Root
Bridge. Therefore, the Port-channel 2 of the VDX6730-A and the Tengig 0/6 of the
VDX6730-B are in Discarding (Blocked) state as shown below.
RPVST+ Topology for VLAN 502,504
-------------------
VLAN 502
Root ID Priority 0
Migrate Time 3 sec
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Po 2 ALT DSC 2000 128 P2P No
VDX6730-B# show spanning-tree vlan 502 br
VLAN 502
Root ID Priority 0
Migrate Time 3 sec
---------------------------------------------------------------------
VLAN0502
Root ID Priority 0
Aging Time 300
------------------- ---- --- --------- -------- ------------------------------
Gi1/14 Desg FWD 4 128.14 P2p
Te2/2 Desg FWD 2 128.130 P2p
Te2/3 Desg FWD 2 128.131 P2p
VLAN0502
Root ID Priority 0
Cost 2
Port 131 (TenGigabitEthernet2/3)
Address 0019.0762.99f6
Aging Time 300
------------------- ---- --- --------- -------- ----------------------------
Gi1/14 Desg FWD 4 128.14 P2p
Te2/2 Desg FWD 2 128.130 P2p
Te2/3 Root FWD 2 128.131 P2p
-------------------
In the RPVST+ interoperability test, convergence time for a link failure or a LAG failure is of
Test Result Summary

Based on verification for Spanning Tree and convergence time, the test result shows the
RPVST+ of Brocade VDX interoperates with that of Cisco Catalyst 6500, and that LAGs are
treated as normal links in the RPVST+.

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Data Center Solution-Design Guide: Configure Brocade VDX in 'Standalone Mode'

with Cisco STP

Purpose of This Document

Technical Description of STP

STP Interface State Change

VCS Fabric Mode

STP Interoperability Design

Load balancing using MSTP Instances

STP Interoperability Test Bed Network

Interoperability Test Methodology

LAG Interoperability Test Result

802.1D STP Topology

Test Result Summary

802.1w RSTP Interoperability Test Result

Verification of Spanning Tree Topology

VDX6730-A# show spanning-tree brief

PVST+ Interoperability Test Result

PVST+ Topology for VLAN 501, 503

MSTP Interoperability Test Result

MSTP Instance 0,1 Topology

Test Result Summary

RPVST+ Interoperability Test Result

Verification of Spanning Tree Topology

RPVST+ Topology for VLAN 501,503

VLAN 502, 504

RPVST+ Topology for VLAN 502,504

Test Result Summary

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