[c-nsp] Removing VTP Server switch

[Giles Coochey]

> Hi,
> 
> On Tue, Nov 06, 2007 at 06:39:45AM -0500, Paul Stewart wrote:
> > I was kind of wondering the same thing... a couple hundred VLAN's
spread
> > across several 6500's and never had an issue in 7 years.... :)
> 
> If you want fun, try this:
> 
>  - connect another switch, have it learn the VTP database, make it a
>    VTP master  (VTP can have multiple masters)
> 
>  - disconnect it, to use it in a lab setup, or so
> 
>  - for the LAB setup, decide "oh, I don't need all those VLANs that
are
>    there from the original setup"
> 
>  - some time later, connect it back to the "real" setup, and watch all
>    VLANs on *all* switches go...
> 

I've had a VTP nightmare, and it was when I took over a non-VTP
environment and went to enable VTP without enough prior research.

I think that if you design a network with VTP from scratch you will not
have any problems - the scenario you describe can obviously cause
problems, but if you take a VTP configured switch from production to the
lab, first thing to recommend is changing (a) the VTP domain name, and
(b) the password.

If, however, you attempt to implement VTP on an existing infrastructure
then you can fall into some pretty severe problems.

Same might be said for trying to take apart a VTP domain on an existing
infrastructure, which is exactly what's being discussed here.