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possible stp issue

We were working on installing a new server on our core switch. Whenever we bought a
specific port up or down, the network would drop for about 60 seconds. I was wondering if there
was a configuration in the Nortel switch that could be causing this issue.

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rfc1180

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mikebernhardt

What I'm wondering is if your server is producing spanning tree BPDUs. I remember that there was a default setting on some MS Server configurations that did this. If the server is sending BPDUs then any switch will start running the spanning tree algorithm. You can check this with a sniffer- you can just install Wireshark on the server itself and see if it's sending them (make sure you distinguish between the ones it's sending and the one the switch may be sending).

The normal process for spanning tree is that the port will not forward traffic while spanning tree runs. The switch listens for BPDUs and waits to forward traffic from that port until the timeouts have completed. THIS DOESN'T AFFECT OTHER TRAFFIC. However if your server IS producing BPDUs then it could affect other traffic if the spanning tree root changes.

motewalker

ASKER

Spanning tree is definately not configured properly and that is more than likely the situation here. I will will also look into whether or not the server is generting BPDUs. Thanks both of you.