Spanning Tree Protocol - Evolutions and Extensions - Shortest Path Bridging

Shortest Path Bridging

The IEEE approved the IEEE 802.1aq standard May 2012, also known and documented in most books as Shortest Path Bridging (SPB). SPB allows all links to be active through multiple equal cost paths, and provides much larger layer 2 topologies, faster convergence, and improves the use of the mesh topologies through increase bandwidth between all devices by allowing traffic to load share across all paths on a mesh network. SPB consolidates multiple existing functionalities, including Spanning Tree Protocol (STP), Multiple Spanning Tree Protocol (MSTP), Rapid Spanning Tree Protocol (RSTP), and Multiple MAC Registration Protocol (MMRP) into a one link state protocol. SPB is designed to virtually eliminate human error during configuration and preserves the plug-and-play nature that established Ethernet as the de facto protocol at Layer 2.

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