Hi There, thanks for that, however I already read that in my cisco book,

Does the edge port only come into use when you put portfast on them? I gather they still send and receive bpdu's with portfast?

Also on the link type ports that connect to other switches, do they forward straight away or do they wait a few seconds?

no, ports in portfast state do not participate in any BPDU information.

the ports connecting to other switches do not forward straight away, however when you configure uplink-fast feature these ports forward straight away without going through the spt LST/LRN/FWD stages.

steve knockswell

edge port = IEEE terminology for a port that has no STP peer and that cannot introduce a loop = port on which Cisco wants you to configure portfast;-)

About the behavior of portfast vs non-portfast port, see my previous post. Portfast port go immediately to forwarding, regular ports (non portfast), go forwarding depending on the STP rules.

Ports configured for portfast still run STP, they send BPDUs (but don't expect any, again because they are supposed to have no peer).

F.

Hi There

thanks for that, lastly, if im running rstp, Is the only way you define them as an edge port by adding portfast to them? and also when you say portfast ports send bpdu's but do not expect them, I gather they still listen for bpdu's? so they could still prevent a loop?

Hi Carl,

Configuring portfast on an edge port will not define it as an edge port. The term edge port is used to describe a port that is connected to an end user/router or a device(s) that will not create a loop in the network. Edge ports have nothing to do with BPDUs, point to point ports will work with BPDUs. Link-type Point to point ports is the term used for the links that are connecting the switches together.

Hope this helps, read through ftallet comments, this also explains the process and functionality.

Cheers,

Garry