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| 3.3 |  | STP Enhancements |
| 3.3.1 |  | Delay in STP updates |

The current IEEE 802.1D Spanning-Tree Protocol (STP) standard was designed at a time where recovering connectivity after an outage within a minute or so was considered adequate performance. With the advent of Layer 3 switching in LAN environments, bridging now competes with routed solutions where protocols such as Open Shortest Path First (OSPF) and Enhanced Interior Gateway Routing Protocol (EIGRP) are able to provide an alternate path in less time.

Enhancements of the IEEE 802.1D specification have been developed in an attempt to speed up STP alternate path selection. These areas will be discussed in the following topics.