Solution 1: Bridging with STP
1. Yes, you will be able to reach all PCs in the network. All clients are members
of the same network.
2. The root bridge is the bridge with the lowest priority. This is displayed by
the following command:
> display stp parameters
3. Select one of the bridges and assign the priority value 65000 to it using the
following command.
> set stp bridge priority 65000
The priority can have a value of 0 to 65535, with 0 being the highest priority.
4. This steps requres you to move the cables in the hubs.
5. You are still able to reach all PCs from each other. This demonstrates one
of the advantages of bridging, that clients can be moved around without
any requirements for additional configuration.
6. Using the network sniffer you successfully capture BPDUs on the network.
By carefully analysing the BPDUs you will see the identity of the Root
Bridge. The bridge id is made up of the MAC address plus an additional
priority number.
Solution 2: Static Routing with 2 Routers
Question 1 The routing entries for the local interfaces on the router are marked as type
DIR, that is, these routes were discovered automatically by the router. The
routes you configured by command are marked type MGMT, indicating they
were configured by command.
Question 2 Since you added two equal cost metrics to the same destination, packets
are sent alternatively over both WAN links as they are received. That is, packet 1 is
sent over route 1 and packet 2 is sent over route 2 and packet 3 is sent over
route 1 etc etc.
Question 3 Yes, you can still Ping from PC to PC since you have configured a backup
route.
Question 4 The packets take the only route available, that is, over the backup WAN
link.
Solution 3: Static Routing with 3 Routers
Question 1 Packets from LAN1 take a path to LAN 2 using the serial WAN between
them.
Question 2 Since you added two equal cost metrics to the same destination, packets
are sent alternatively over both WAN links as they are received. That is, packet 1 is
sent over route 1 and packet 2 is sent over route 2 and packet 3 is sent over
route 1 etc etc.
Question 3 & 4 When you pull the WAN link, some destinations are no longer
reachable because you have not configured a backup link.
Question 5 You could configure a backup link from every router to all destinations.
Alternatively you could configure the network to use a dynamic routing protocol such
as RIP or OSPF.
Question 6 The commands for this are similar to the ones documented in the exercise.
Question 7 & 8 All destinations are reachable because there is an alternative path for
each destination.