148 CHAPTER 14: MSTP CONFIGURATION
■ MSTP supports mapping VLANs to MST instances by means of a
VLAN-to-instance mapping table. MSTP introduces "instance" (integrates
multiple VLANs into a set) and can bind multiple VLANs to an instance, thus
saving communication overhead and improving resource utilization.
■ MSTP divides a switched network into multiple regions, each containing
multiple spanning trees that are independent of one another.
■ MSTP prunes a ring network into a network with tree topology, preventing
packets from being duplicated and forwarded in a network endlessly.
Furthermore, it offers multiple redundant paths for forwarding data, and thus
achieves load balancing for forwarding VLAN data.
■ MSTP is compatible with STP and RSTP.
Basic MSTP
Terminologies
Figure 49 illustrates basic MSTP terms (assuming that MSTP is enabled on each
switch in this figure).
Figure 49 Basic MSTP terminologies
MST region
A multiple spanning tree region (MST region) comprises multiple
physically-interconnected MSTP-enabled switches and the corresponding network
segments connected to these switches. These switches have the same region
name, the same VLAN-to-MSTI mapping configuration and the same MSTP
revision level.
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