Help to determine the most suitable STP type for my configuration

[Ilya_Semenov]

Hello, everybody!

I have a network, where only Extremes exist.

Access layer are 8 stacks spread through floors.

Distribution layer is a stack of 2 X670.

Core layer are two BD8806 connected with MLAG. There is also VRRP configured.

There is one etherchannel between core for MLAG, and one etherchannel to X670 stack.

Floor stacks are connected to X670 with one etherchannel link.

I have 30 vlans total.

The schema is provided below.

Could you please help me to find the most suitable STP type/configuration?

At the moment I have configured EMISTP encapsulation with dot1w mode, but I don't like it.

Many thanks in advance,

Ilya

P.S. With this scheme I have strange alternating ping replies from 1 to 50 ms. Is there any connection with STPDs or VRRP in the core?

P.P.S Could you give me a link to any article where the simplest STP configuration on extremes described? I am interested in the method of configuring STP for all vlans with minimum efforts like in CISCO.

[Ilya_Semenov]

Surely, Drew! See you in Orlando!

[Drew_C]

I'll be there working at the Services booth - stop by and say hello!

[Patrick_Voss]

The uplinks are the connections between the switches. You want to configure those ports for ELRP but exclude them from any action. You don't want an uplink port disabled. He referring to a simple VLAN present on the entire network where every port on every switch is tagged. Enabling ELRP on this VLAN on each switch will allow it to send out the necessary multicast traffic and perform an action if it receives it back.

I would not use both. ELRP will take care of everything you need. If you would like to use STP to prevent loops you can simply configure edge-safeguard on all the ports except the uplinks and it will do the same thing.

[davidj_cogliane]

By uplinks I simply meant your inter-switch connections which we obviously do not want to disable.

We still add the noloop vlan to those ports so that a loop that spans two closets will be detected but we exclude the uplink port so elrp does not disable that port.

We do not need stp at all. In our configuration ELRP will tell you if there is a link on an uplink port but not disable it. If you do not add the vlan used by ELRP to the uplink ports the link in the below drawing could go undetected.

[Ilya_Semenov]

Hello, David!

What is the difference between uplinks and tagged ports? I think there isn't...

Am I correct, that you recommend me to use ELRP for access ports and STP for uplinks? Something like "enable stpd VLAN5 auto-bind vlan VLAN5"...?

Thank you!