Spanning tree melt down ?

Wed Nov 27 15:17:06 UTC 2002

Anyone have any idea what really happened :

http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/330/science/Got_paper_+.shtml

<snip>
It was too late. Somewhere in the web of copper wires and glass fibers that
connects the hospital's two campuses and satellite offices, the data was stuck
in an endless loop. Halamka's technicians shut down part of the network to
contain it, but that created a cascade of new problems.

The entire system crashed, freezing the massive stream of information -
prescriptions, lab tests, patient histories, Medicare bills - that shoots
through the hospital's electronic arteries every day, touching every aspect of
care for hundreds of patients. 
...
The crisis had nothing to do with the particular software the researcher was
using. The problem had to do with a system called ''spanning tree protocol,''
which finds the most efficient way to move information through the network and
blocks alternate routes to prevent data from getting stuck in a loop. The large
volume of data the researcher was uploading happened to be the last drop that
made the network overflow.

Regards 
Marshall Eubanks