This whitepaper is a lab testing summary report of Ethernet fabrics. The study is intended to validate the advantages provided to the data center implementations by Shortest Path Bridging Mode (SPB or SPBM) protocol.

SPBM is being compared with Routed Split Multi-Link Trunking (RSMLT) and Multiple Spanning Tree Protocol (MSTP). The study tested the time required to configure new application services and the complexity of configuration. SPBM simplified the process of configuring large data center networks. Fewer devices needed to be configured manually, reducing opportunity for configuration errors. Resiliency tests were also done, as well as evaluating the performance of VMware VMotion over SPBM.