Other methods than spanning tree to block loops in F5?
According to http://support.f5.com/kb/en-us/products/big-ip_ltm/manuals/product/tmos_management_guide_10_1/tmos_stp.html1006923 F5 supports today the following spanning tree standards:
Protocol Name IEEE Specification
Spanning Tree Protocol (STP) 802.1D-1998
Rapid Spanning Tree Protocol (RSTP) 802.1w, 802.1t, and 802.1D-2004
Multiple Spanning Tree Protocol (MSTP) 802.1s
Where MSTP is the one to choose if you for example want something similar to PVST (Per VLAN Spanning Tree) - that is over a physical link the spanning tree will block forwarding for one VLAN while it allows forwarding for another.
But in a F5-only environment (at least for the links in question) - are there other, proprietary or such, anti-loop protocols one can use in F5?
Specifically something that is subsecond in its failover time compared to the rapid settings which are (if Im not mistaken):
hellotime: 2 seconds
forwarddelay: 4 seconds
maxage: 6 seconds
For example Allied Telesis uses something they call "Protection Switching Rings" which (they claim) has a sub-50ms failover time - does F5 have something similar?