STP & MLT (again)

[Romeyn]

I am sorry for beating a dead horse, as this issue has been covered many, many times on this site, both in the blog and in the forums.  Due to recent staffing changes, I have been thrust into the role of Network Manager and have been learning and re-learning very quickly.

Of immediate concern is a link between our core switch (8610 in an 8010 chassis) and a 3-switch stack of Avaya 4850GTS-PWR+.  There is a MLT connecting the two.  By all indications, Spanning Tree is ACTIVE on this link.  The 4850s recently replaced 3 5510s, which also had the MLT with spanning tree active.  The network admin who originally set this up assures me that it's always been like this.

Questions:

1) Why is this bad?

2) What is to be gained by turning it off?

3) Can I turn it off without interrupting service?

4) Should I?

The 8610 is running System 5.0.0.0

[Telair]

1) Why is this bad?
- It's not bad as such.  Just it's not required as the MLT group acts as a single link.  So you can't have a loop on a single link making STP kind of pointless.

2) What is to be gained by turning it off?
- The STP in your network core isn't joined to the edge of your network.  A topology change happens out on the edge it won't affect your core network.

3) Can I turn it off without interrupting service?
- Yes, you should be able to turn STP on the MLT ports off without an interruption.

4) Should I?
- I would.  I would still do it after hours though just in case.

[Romeyn]

Thank you.  That helps immensely.

[Telair]

Maybe also look at updating the code on your core routers.  The v5.0.0.0 software is very old now and newer releases have newer features and bug fixes.  Something to consider as v5.0.0.0 is way out of support now.

[Romeyn]

Yeeeaaahhhh....I've noted that.  That will be a task for someone more qualified than I!  We're operating under the mantra, "It ain't broke, so we're not gonna fix it" mantra for now.