STP and Rapid PVST+ questions test your understanding of root bridge election, port roles, port states, and protection features. These appear in MCQ, multi-select, and drag-and-drop formats on the CCNA because STP behaviour is non-intuitive and frequently misunderstood.
Start Scenario PracticeDrag and drop the steps of Rapid PVST+ topology change notification process into the correct order, from first to last.
Explanation: In Rapid PVST+, a topology change is triggered when a non-edge port transitions to forwarding. The switch then sets the proposal bit on its designated ports, sends a proposal message, and expects an agreement from the downstream switch. After receiving the agreement, the port moves to forwarding and the switch propagates the change by setting the TC flag in BPDUs sent on all designated ports. This ensures rapid convergence.
A network engineer runs the following command on Switch SW1: SW1# show interfaces trunk Port Mode Encapsulation Status Native vlan Gi0/1 on 802.1q trunking 1 Gi0/2 on 802.1q trunking 1 Port Vlans allowed on trunk Gi0/1 1-1005 Gi0/2 1-1005 Port Vlans allowed and active in management domain Gi0/1 1,10,20 Gi0/2 1,10,20 Port Vlans in spanning tree forwarding state and not pruned Gi0/1 1,10,20 Gi0/2 1,10,20 Based on this output, what can be concluded?
Explanation: The output shows that VLANs 1-1005 are allowed on the trunk, but only VLANs 1, 10, and 20 are listed as active in the management domain. This means VLANs 2-9 are configured on the trunk but are not active (i.e., not created or not present on the switch), so they do not forward traffic. Option A correctly identifies this condition.
Drag and drop the steps of STP root bridge election and port state transitions into the correct order, from first to last.
Explanation: STP first elects a root bridge based on lowest bridge ID. Then each non-root bridge selects one root port (lowest path cost to root). Next, each segment elects a designated port (lowest root path cost, then lowest bridge ID). All other ports become alternate (blocking). Finally, ports transition through blocking, listening, learning, and forwarding states.
A network engineer runs the following command on Switch SW1: SW1# show spanning-tree vlan 10 VLAN0010 Spanning tree enabled protocol ieee Root ID Priority 24586 Address aabb.cc00.0100 This bridge is the root Hello Time 2 sec Max Age 20 sec Forward Delay 15 sec Bridge ID Priority 24586 (priority 24576 sys-id-ext 10) Address aabb.cc00.0100 Hello Time 2 sec Max Age 20 sec Forward Delay 15 sec Aging Time 300 sec Interface Role Sts Cost Prio.Nbr Type ------------------- ---- --- --------- -------- ------------------------------ Gi0/1 Desg FWD 4 128.1 P2p Gi0/2 Desg FWD 4 128.2 P2p Gi0/3 Desg FWD 4 128.3 P2p Based on this output, what can be concluded?
Explanation: The output shows the root bridge priority as 24586, which includes the VLAN 10 system ID extension. The configured bridge priority (without the system ID) is 24576, as indicated by 'priority 24576 sys-id-ext 10' in the Bridge ID line. Therefore, option D correctly states that the root bridge priority for VLAN 10 is 24576 without the system ID extension. Option A is incorrect because, while SW1 is the root bridge, the question asks for a conclusion based on the output; the key detail is the priority value. Options B and C are false based on the output.
A network engineer is configuring a new switch that will be used as an access layer switch. The switch connects to two distribution switches via trunk links. The engineer wants to ensure that the access switch does not become the root bridge for any VLAN. The engineer also wants to provide redundancy so that if one uplink fails, the other uplink takes over quickly. The engineer is using Rapid PVST+. What configuration should the engineer apply on the access switch?
Explanation: Setting the spanning-tree priority to 61440 (which is 0xF000 in hex) makes the switch a very unlikely root bridge candidate. In Rapid PVST+, the bridge priority is a 4-bit value (0-15) multiplied by 4096, so 61440 corresponds to priority 15 — the highest possible value. This ensures the access switch will never become the root bridge for any VLAN, while Rapid PVST+ provides fast failover (sub-second convergence) via its alternate/backup port mechanism without needing UplinkFast.
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Practice all Spanning Tree Protocol ScenariosSTP and Rapid PVST+ questions test your understanding of root bridge election, port roles, port states, and protection features. These appear in MCQ, multi-select, and drag-and-drop formats on the CCNA because STP behaviour is non-intuitive and frequently misunderstood. These appear throughout the 350-401 and require you to apply your knowledge, not just recall facts.
Cisco doesn't publish an exact breakdown, but scenario-based questions (especially exhibit and command-output formats) make up a significant portion of the 350-401. Practicing each scenario type ensures you're ready for any format.
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