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| 3.4 |  | 802.1w Rapid Spanning-Tree Protocol |
| 3.4.1 |  | Rapid Spanning-Tree Protocol |

Rapid Spanning-Tree Protocol (RSTP; IEEE 802.1w) can be seen as an evolution of the 802.1D standard more than a revolution. The 802.1D terminology remains primarily the same, and most parameters have been left unchanged so users familiar with 802.1D can rapidly configure the new protocol comfortably. In most cases, RSTP performs better than Cisco's proprietary extensions without any additional configuration. 802.1w is also capable of reverting back to 802.1D in order to interoperate with legacy bridges (thus dropping the benefits it introduces) on a per-port basis. This lesson briefly explains the enhancements added by RSTP to the previous 802.1D standard.