Test the loop-free topology

Let us verify that with the spanning tree algorithm in place to ensure a loop-free topology, a broadcast storm cannot occur. We should see that with the spanning tree protocol creating a logical loop-free topology, we can send a broadcast packet without creating a broadcast storm.

For this section, you will need one SSH session on each bridge, and one SSH session on the “romeo” host.

On each of the four bridges, run

sudo tcpdump -env -i br0

and then, in the terminal on “romeo”, run

ping -b -c 1 10.10.0.255

to generate a single broadcast packet.

Lab report: Compare this result to the previous experiment with a broadcast frame. How many times does the ICMP packet appear on each network segment? Does it reach every network segment? Does a broadcast storm occur?