Dell VxRail Network Planning Guide

Limit spanning tree protocol

Network traffic must be allowed uninterrupted passage between the physical switch ports and the VxRail nodes. Certain Spanning Tree states can place restrictions on network traffic and can force the port into an unexpected timeout mode. These conditions that are caused by Spanning Tree can disrupt VxRail normal operations and impact performance. If Spanning Tree is enabled in your network, ensure that the physical switch ports that are connected to VxRail nodes are configured with a setting such as Portfast or set as an edge port. These settings set the port to forwarding state, so no disruption occurs. Because VMware vSphere virtual switches do not support STP, physical switch ports that are connected to an ESXi host must have a setting such as Portfast configured if spanning tree is enabled to avoid loops within the physical switch network.