Overview
Rapid Spanning Tree Protocol (RSTP), standardized as IEEE 802.1w, reduces the time it takes for a network to recover from a link failure from 30-50 seconds (in STP) to just a few seconds or less.
Key Improvements
- New Port Roles: Adds 'Alternate' and 'Backup' roles for faster failover.
- Simplified States: Combines Blocking, Listening, and Disabled into a single 'Discarding' state.
- Edge Ports: Allows ports connected to end devices (PCs) to transition immediately to forwarding (similar to Cisco's PortFast).