AT-S63 Management Software Features Guide
Section V: Spanning Tree Protocols 239
Path Costs and
Port Costs
After the root bridge has been selected, the bridges determine if the
network contains redundant paths and, if one is found, select a preferred
path while placing the redundant paths in a backup or blocking state.
Where there is only one path between a bridge and the root bridge, the
bridge is referred to as the designated bridge and the port through which
the bridge is communicating with the root bridge is referred to as the root
port.
If redundant paths exist, the bridges that are a part of the paths must
determine which path will be the primary, active path, and which path(s)
will be placed in the standby, blocking mode. This is accomplished by an
determination of path costs. The path offering the lowest cost to the root
bridge becomes the primary path and all other redundant paths are placed
into blocking state.
Path cost is determined by evaluating port costs. Every port on a bridge
participating in STP has a cost associated with it. The cost of a port on a
bridge is typically based on port speed. The faster the port, the lower the
port cost. The exception to this is the ports on the root bridge, where all
ports have a port cost of 0.
Path cost is simply the sum of the port costs between a bridge and the root
bridge.
The port cost of a port on the AT-9400 Switch is adjustable through the
AT-S63 Management Software. For STP, the range is 0 to 65,535. For
RSTP, the range is 0 to 20,000,000.
Port cost also has an Auto-Detect feature. This feature allows spanning
tree to automatically set the port cost according to the speed of the port,
assigning a lower value for higher speeds. Auto-Detect is the default
setting. Table 73 lists the STP port costs with Auto-Detect.
Table 71. STP Auto-Detect Port Costs
Port Speed Port Cost
10 Mbps 100
100 Mbps 10
1000 Mbps 4
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