Disable the jacks all together and go wireless? Have them put in a trouble ticket if they absolutely need a port activated in a conference room for a one-time meeting.
-Mike On Fri, Mar 26, 2010 at 3:09 PM, Chuck Anderson <c...@wpi.edu> wrote: > Anyone have suggestions on Ethernet LAN loop-prevention? With the > advent of Auto MDI/MDI-X ports on switches, it seems way too easy to > accidentally or maliciously create loops between network jacks. We > have bored or inattentive people plugging in patch cords between > adjacent network jacks. STP for loop-prevention isn't working so well > for us. > > STP "edge" or "portfast" or "faststart" modes are required for > end-station ports (with normal STP, DHCP often times out after 30+ > seconds it takes to go into Forwarding state). Since the "edge" STP > mode goes into Forwarding state immediately, there is a period when > loops will form, causing havok with upstream gear until STP blocks the > port (if it ever does see below). > > "Desktop" switches. You know, those 4 or 5 port Gigabit Ethernet > switches. Apparently, many of them don't do any kind of STP at all. > Recommendations on ones that do STP? > > RSTP: is it any better than traditional STP in regards to "edge" ports > and blocking before a loop gets out of hand? Or perhaps blocking for > 5-10 seconds before going into Forwarding state, hopefully preventing > loops before they happen but also allowing DHCP clients to get an > address without timeouts? Recommendations on "Desktop" switches that > do RSTP? > > Thanks for your suggestions/discussion. > > -- > - Chuck (354 Days until IPv4 depletion: http://ipv4depletion.com/) > >