Suppose I want to network a stadium and I have 20 switches connected in a loop. My goal is to be able to connect a laptop to any of the switches and connect to the network and limit my TTL going clockwise and counterclockwise. I'm wondering if this will work. Any ever try this or know what will happen? I'm using the network for lighting control, sACN and Artnet. Thanks.
Switch – What happens if I connect several switches together in a loop
designswitchtopology
Best Answer
Spanning tree will break the loop by selecting a loop-free path to the root bridge.
This really makes no sense. Spanning tree will determine a single, loop-free path toward the root bridge. Also, TTL is an IP header field (layer-3) that plays no part in layer-2 switching, but is used (decremented) by routers at layer-3.
No, not the way you seem to think, for the reason I explained above.
Yes, spanning tree will create a single, loop-free path to the root bridge. The best you can do is to determine which switch will be the root.
Properly, you should have a pair of switches that are the root and backup root, connected to each other, and all the other switches should connect to both of those switches, but all the other switches should not be connected to each other. In this way, you build a tree such that each switch is directly connected to the root bridge and backup root bridge, and any traffic from one switch to another switch only needs to pass through one other switch, the root switch.