Ethernet Switches

Appendix A. Resources

The following resources may be consulted for further information. Resources are listed here as examples only, and no endorsement of any company or software package is implied.

Resources for Chapter 1

The formal IEEE standards are a moving target: old versions of the standards are periodically updated, and new standards are often being developed.

Bridging Standards

• The specifications for basic Ethernet bridges are found in the 802.1D standard for MAC bridges
• Published IEEE 802.1 “Bridging and Management” standards
• Active and archived projects for the IEEE 802.1 working group

Ethernet Standards

• Published IEEE standards for Ethernet
• Active and archived projects for the IEEE 802.3 working group

OSI Model

• The Open Systems Interconnection (OSI) model describes the set of tasks involved in computer communication as a set of abstraction layers

Ethernet Bridging and the Spanning Tree Protocol

• Cisco IOS Configuration Guide: “Configuring STP and MST”

• Cisco white paper: “Understanding Multiple Spanning Tree Protocol (802.1s)”

  • This white paper documents the differences between Cisco’s version of spanning tree, known as “Per-VLAN Spanning Tree Plus (PVST+),” and the most recent variation of spanning tree developed by the IEEE, known as “Multiple Spanning Tree.”

• Interconnections: Bridges, Routers, Switches and Internetworking Protocols (2nd Edition), by Radia Perlman. Addison-Wesley. 1999. 

  • An expert’s insights into network protocols and how networks function, by the ...