Helvio

The EAPS protocol provides fast protection switching to layer 2 switches interconnected in an Ethernet ring topology, such as a Metropolitan Area Network (MAN) or large campuses (see Figure 22). EAPS protection switching is similar to what can be achieved with the Spanning Tree Protocol (STP), but offers the advantage of converging in less than a second when a link in the ring breaks. An Ethernet ring built using EAPS can have resilience comparable to that provided by SONET rings, at a lower cost and with fewer restraints (e.g., ring size). The EAPS technology developed by Extreme Networks to increase the availability and robustness of Ethernet rings is described in RFC 3619: Extreme Networks’ Ethernet Automatic Protection Switching (EAPS) Version 1. In order to use EAPS, you must enable EDP on the switch and EAPS ring