ICND2 – RSTP Questions

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Question 1

[am4show have=’p2;’]Refer to the exhibit. Each of these four switches has been configured with a hostname, as well as being configured to run RSTP. No other configuration changes have been made. Which three of these show the correct RSTP port roles for the indicated switches and interfaces? (Choose three)

A. SwitchA, Fa0/2, designated
B. SwitchA, Fa0/1, root
C. SwitchB, Gi0/2, root
D. SwitchB, Gi0/1, designated
E. SwitchC, Fa0/2, root
F. SwitchD, Gi0/2, root

 

Answer: A B F[/am4show]

Explanation

The question says “no other configuration changes have been made” so we can understand these switches have the same bridge priority. Switch C has lowest MAC address so it will become root bridge and 2 of its ports (Fa0/1 & Fa0/2) will be designated ports -> E is incorrect.

Because SwitchC is the root bridge so the 2 ports nearest SwitchC on SwitchA (Fa0/1) and SwitchD (Gi0/2) will be root ports -> B and F are correct.

Now we come to the most difficult part of this question: SwitchB must have a root port so which port will it choose? To answer this question we need to know about STP cost and port cost.

In general, “cost” is calculated based on bandwidth of the link. The higher the bandwidth on a link, the lower the value of its cost. Below are the cost values you should memorize:

Link speed	Cost
10Mbps	100
100Mbps	19
1 Gbps	4

SwitchB will choose the interface with lower cost to the root bridge as the root port so we must calculate the cost on interface Gi0/1 & Gi0/2 of SwitchB to the root bridge. This can be calculated from the “cost to the root bridge” of each switch because a switch always advertises its cost to the root bridge in its BPDU. The receiving switch will add its local port cost value to the cost in the BPDU.

In the exhibit you also see FastEthernet port is connecting to GigabitEthernet port. In this case GigabitEthernet port will operate as a FastEthernet port so the link can be considered as FastEthernet to FastEthernet connection.

One more thing to notice is that a root bridge always advertises the cost to the root bridge (itself) with an initial value of 0.

Now let’s have a look at the topology again

SwitchC advertises its cost to the root bridge with a value of 0. Switch D adds 19 (the cost value of 100Mbps link although the port on Switch D is GigabitEthernet port) and advertises this value (19) to SwitchB. SwitchB adds 4 (the cost value of 1Gbps link) and learns that it can reach SwitchC via Gi0/1 port with a total cost of 23. The same process happens for SwitchA and SwitchB learns that it can reach SwitchC via Gi0/2 with a total cost of 38 -> Switch B chooses Gi0/1 as its root port -> D is not correct.

Now our last task is to identify the port roles of the ports between SwitchA & SwitchB. It is rather easy as the MAC address of SwitchA is lower than that of SwitchB so Fa0/2 of SwitchA will be designated port while Gi0/2 of SwitchB will be alternative port -> A is correct but C is not correct.

Below summaries all the port roles of these switches:

+ DP: Designated Port (forwarding state)
+ RP: Root Port (forwarding state)
+ AP: Alternative Port (blocking state)

Question 2

[am4show have=’p2;’]Refer to the exhibit. At the end of an RSTP election process, which access layer switch port will assume the discarding role?

A. Switch3, port fa0/1
B. Switch3, port fa0/12
C. Switch4, port fa0/11
D. Switch4, port fa0/2
E. Switch3, port Gi0/1

 

Answer: C[/am4show]

Explanation

In this question, we only care about the Access Layer switches (Switch3 & 4). Switch 3 has a lower bridge ID than Switch 4 (because the MAC of Switch3 is smaller than that of Switch4) so both ports of Switch3 will be in forwarding state. The alternative port will surely belong to Switch4.

Switch4 will need to block one of its ports to avoid a bridging loop between the two switches. But how does Switch4 select its blocked port? Well, the answer is based on the BPDUs it receives from Switch3. A BPDU is superior than another if it has:

1. A lower Root Bridge ID
2. A lower path cost to the Root
3. A lower Sending Bridge ID
4. A lower Sending Port ID

These four parameters are examined in order. In this specific case, all the BPDUs sent by Sswitch3 have the same Root Bridge ID, the same path cost to the Root and the same Sending Bridge ID. The only parameter left to select the best one is the Sending Port ID (Port ID = port priority + port index). In this case the port priorities are equal because they use the default value, so Switch4 will compare port index values, which are unique to each port on the switch, and because Fa0/12 is inferior to Fa0/1, Switch4 will select the port connected with Fa0/1 (of Switch3) as its root port and block the other port -> Port fa0/11 of Switch4 will be blocked (discarding role).

If you are still not sure about this question, please read my RSTP tutorial.

Question 3

[am4show have=’p2;’]At which layer of the OSI model is RSTP used to prevent loops?

A. data link
B. network
C. physical
D. transport

 

Answer: A[/am4show]

Question 4

[am4show have=’p2;’]Which three statements about RSTP are true? (Choose three)

A. RSTP significantly reduces topology reconvening time after a link failure.
B. RSTP expands the STP port roles by adding the alternate and backup roles.
C. RSTP port states are blocking, discarding, learning, or forwarding.
D. RSTP provides a faster transition to the forwarding state on point-to-point links than STP does.
E. RSTP also uses the STP proposal-agreement sequence.
F. RSTP uses the same timer-based process as STP on point-to-point links.

 

Answer: A B D[/am4show]

Question 5

[am4show have=’p2;’]Which two switch states are valid for 802.1w? (Choose two)

A. listening
B. backup
C. disabled
D. learning
E. discarding

 

Answer: D E[/am4show]

Explanation

IEEE 802.1w is Rapid Spanning Tree Protocol (RSTP). There are only three port states left in RSTP that correspond to the three possible operational states. The 802.1D disabled, blocking, and listening states are merged into the 802.1w discarding state.

* Discarding – the port does not forward frames, process received frames, or learn MAC addresses – but it does listen for BPDUs (like the STP blocking state)
* Learning – receives and transmits BPDUs and learns MAC addresses but does not yet forward frames (same as STP).
* Forwarding – receives and sends data, normal operation, learns MAC address, receives and transmits BPDUs (same as STP).

Question 6

[am4show have=’p2;’]Which two of these statements regarding RSTP are correct? (Choose two)

A. RSTP cannot operate with PVST+.
B. RSTP defines new port roles.
C. RSTP defines no new port states.
D. RSTP is a proprietary implementation of IEEE 802.1D STP.
E. RSTP is compatible with the original IEEE 802.1D STP.

 

Answer: B E[/am4show]

Question 7

[am4show have=’p2;’]Which two states are the port states when RSTP has converged? (choose two)

A. discarding
B. learning
C. disabled
D. forwarding
E. listening

 

Answer: A D[/am4show]

Explanation

RSTP only has 3 port states that are discarding, learning and forwarding. When RSTP has converged there are only 2 port states left: discarding and forwarding.

Question 8

[am4show have=’p2;’]Refer to the exhibit:

Why has this switch not been elected the root bridge for VLAN1?

A. It has more than one internee that is connected to the root network segment.
B. It is running RSTP while the elected root bridge is running 802.1d spanning tree.
C. It has a higher MAC address than the elected root bridge.
D. It has a higher bridge ID than the elected root bridge.

 

Answer: D[/am4show]

Explanation

As we can see from the output above, the priority of the root bridge is 20481 while that of the local bridge is 32769.

Question 9

[am4show have=’p2;’]Refer to the exhibit. The output that is shown is generated at a switch. Which three of these statements are true? (Choose three)

A. All ports will be in a state of discarding, learning or forwarding.
B. Thirty VLANs have been configured on this switch.
C. The bridge priority is lower than the default value for spanning tree.
D. All interfaces that are shown are on shared media.
E. All designated ports are in a forwarding state.
F. The switch must be the root bridge for all VLANs on this switch.

 

Answer: A C E[/am4show]

Explanation

From the output, we see that all ports are in Designated role (forwarding state) -> A and E are correct.

The command “show spanning-tree vlan 30″ only shows us information about VLAN 30. We don’t know how many VLAN exists in this switch -> B is not correct.

The bridge priority of this switch is 24606 which is lower than the default value bridge priority 32768 -> C is correct.

All three interfaces on this switch have the connection type “p2p”, which means Point-to-point environment – not a shared media -> D is not correct.

The only thing we can specify is this switch is the root bridge for VLAN 30 but we can not guarantee it is also the root bridge for other VLANs -> F is not correct.

Question 10

[am4show have=’p2;’]Refer to the exhibit. Each of these four switches has been configured with a hostname, as well as being configured to run RSTP. No other configuration changes have been made. Which three of these show the correct RSTP port roles for the indicated switches and interfaces? (Choose three)

A. SwitchA, Fa0/2, designated
B. SwitchA, Fa0/1, root
C. SwitchB, Gi0/2, root
D. SwitchB, Gi0/1, designated
E. SwitchC, Fa0/2, root
F. SwitchD, Gi0/2, root

 

Answer: A B F[/am4show]

Explanation

The question says “no other configuration changes have been made” so we can understand these switches have the same bridge priority. Switch C has lowest MAC address so it will become root bridge and 2 of its ports (Fa0/1 & Fa0/2) will be designated ports -> E is incorrect.

Because SwitchC is the root bridge so the 2 ports nearest SwitchC on SwitchA (Fa0/1) and SwitchD (Gi0/2) will be root ports -> B and F are correct.

Now we come to the most difficult part of this question: SwitchB must have a root port so which port will it choose? To answer this question we need to know about STP cost and port cost.

In general, “cost” is calculated based on bandwidth of the link. The higher the bandwidth on a link, the lower the value of its cost. Below are the cost values you should memorize:

Link speed	Cost
10Mbps	100
100Mbps	19
1 Gbps	4

SwitchB will choose the interface with lower cost to the root bridge as the root port so we must calculate the cost on interface Gi0/1 & Gi0/2 of SwitchB to the root bridge. This can be calculated from the “cost to the root bridge” of each switch because a switch always advertises its cost to the root bridge in its BPDU. The receiving switch will add its local port cost value to the cost in the BPDU.

In the exhibit you also see FastEthernet port is connecting to GigabitEthernet port. In this case GigabitEthernet port will operate as a FastEthernet port so the link can be considered as FastEthernet to FastEthernet connection.

One more thing to notice is that a root bridge always advertises the cost to the root bridge (itself) with an initial value of 0.

Now let’s have a look at the topology again

SwitchC advertises its cost to the root bridge with a value of 0. Switch D adds 19 (the cost value of 100Mbps link although the port on Switch D is GigabitEthernet port) and advertises this value (19) to SwitchB. SwitchB adds 4 (the cost value of 1Gbps link) and learns that it can reach SwitchC via Gi0/1 port with a total cost of 23. The same process happens for SwitchA and SwitchB learns that it can reach SwitchC via Gi0/2 with a total cost of 38 -> Switch B chooses Gi0/1 as its root port -> D is not correct.

Now our last task is to identify the port roles of the ports between SwitchA & SwitchB. It is rather easy as the MAC address of SwitchA is lower than that of SwitchB so Fa0/2 of SwitchA will be designated port while Gi0/2 of SwitchB will be alternative port -> A is correct but C is not correct.

Below summaries all the port roles of these switches:

+ DP: Designated Port (forwarding state)
+ RP: Root Port (forwarding state)
+ AP: Alternative Port (blocking state)