Broadcast Storms

Broadcast Storms
Without a loop-avoidance scheme, switches will flood broadcasts endlessly throughout the
internetwork. This can lead to a broadcast storm. Figure 15.2 shows how a broadcast might be
propagated throughout the network. As each broadcast reaches a network segment where multiple
switch ports are connected, the frame will be duplicated as it is forwarded by all switches,
thus increasing the frame count. Broadcasts are processed by each host, and the resultant overhead
to all attached devices rapidly becomes unacceptable.