In STP, Designated ports are in which state?

In Spanning Tree Protocol (STP), designated ports are in the forwarding state. This state allows the designated port to actively send and receive data on the network. The designated port is the port on a network switch that has been selected to forward traffic toward a specific segment of the network, effectively allowing traffic to flow in that direction and preventing loops that could cause broadcast storms.

When a port is in the forwarding state, it participates fully in the data transmission. This means that it forwards frames and listens for incoming frames, helping ensure efficient communication across the network. Being in this state is crucial for maintaining overall network performance and reliability while adhering to STP's main goal of preventing loops.

The other states in STP, such as blocking, listening, and learning, serve different purposes in managing how and when ports can forward traffic or participate in decision-making about the network topology. Blocking ports do not forward frames, listening ports are waiting to see if they should move to the forwarding state, and learning ports gather MAC address information but do not forward frames yet. Hence, the forwarding state is essential for designated ports to fulfill their role in STP.