cisco implementation of mstp

[sarahr202]

hi every body!

I have few questions:

1) Is cisco's mstp implementation is different from ieee 802.1s?

If not, then how ieee mstp standard can operate with cisco'pvst+? did ieee make some provision so mstp( 802.1s)can operate with cisco'pvst+ or it was other way around i.e cisco' pvst+ can interoperate with 802.1s?

thanks a lot!

[Prashanth Krishnappa · Accepted solution]

Cisco implemented MSTP prior to 802.1s being ratified and hence if you have switches running older IOS/CAT OS, the implementation would be pre-standard. But in newer code(varies by platform), the implementation is based on IEEE 802.1s

MST and PVST are interoperable but you might want to read the following tech tip for understanding more

http://www.cisco.com/en/US/tech/tk389/tk621/technologies_white_paper09186a0080094cfc.shtml#mst_region_world