Configuration Guide Manual

Brocade TurboIron 24X Series Configuration Guide 277
53-1003053-01
Metro Ring Protocol (MRP)
Metro Ring Protocol (MRP)
Metro Ring Protocol (MRP) was introduced in two phases:
MRP Phase 1 is supported in all TurboIron X Series devices. Refer to “MRP rings without
shared interfaces (MRP Phase 1)” on page 279.
MRP Phase 2 is supported in TurboIron X Series devices. Refer to “MRP rings with shared
interfaces (MRP Phase 2)” on page 280.
MRP protocol prevents Layer 2 loops and provides fast reconvergence in Layer 2 ring topologies. It
is an alternative to STP and is especially useful in Metropolitan Area Networks (MANs) where using
STP has the following drawbacks:
STP allows a maximum of seven nodes. Metro rings can easily contain more nodes than this.
STP has a slow reconvergence time, taking many seconds or even minutes. MRP can detect
and heal a break in the ring in sub-second time.
TABLE 52 CLI display of topology group information
This field... Displays...
master-vlan The master VLAN for the topology group. The settings for STP, MRP, or VSRP on
the control ports in the master VLAN apply to all control ports in the member
VLANs within the topology group.
member-vlan The member VLANs in the topology group.
Common control ports The master VLAN ports that are configured with Layer 2 protocol information.
The Layer 2 protocol configuration and state of these ports in the master VLAN
applies to the same port numbers in all the member VLANs.
L2 protocol The Layer 2 protocol configured on the control ports. The Layer 2 protocol can
be one of the following:
MRP
STP
VSRP
Per vlan free ports The ports that are not controlled by the Layer 2 protocol information in the
master VLAN.