Patent ID: 8166151

Claim:
A method for determining a spanning tree, the method comprising acts of: determining a root bridge identifier, the root bridge identifier being used as a root bridge identifier in a plurality of network forwarding devices, the plurality of network forwarding devices including a first network forwarding device and a second network forwarding device participating in a network the first network forwarding device including at least one first port not running spanning tree protocol, the second network forwarding device including at least one second port not running the spanning tree protocol, the first network forwarding device coupled to the second network forwarding device through a core network via the at least one first port and the at least one second port; storing, by the first network forwarding device and the second network forwarding device, the root bridge identifier without exchanging the root bridge identifier in a spanning tree protocol message; and using, by the first network forwarding device and the second network forwarding device, the root bridge identifier before and after reconfiguration of the spanning tree, wherein the first network forwarding device exchanges data packets with the second network forwarding device through the core network via the at least one first port and the at least one second port before and after the reconfiguration of the spanning tree.