@techbloging
Recognizing the limitations of IEEE 802.1D, the IEEE community took action to improve STP by introducing the Rapid Spanning Tree Protocol (RSTP) as part of the IEEE 802.1w standard. RSTP significantly reduced convergence times by introducing new port states and a more efficient bridge protocol data unit (BPDU) exchange process. RSTP allowed for much faster network recovery, addressing one of the key shortcomings of earlier STP versions.