Whats the difference between VTP and DTP

Question

I am preparing for CCNA and i came across both VTP and DTP. It seems confusing. Are they both trunking protocols to trunk interfaces? But the modes are different for each. Can someone explain how they differ or same?

Answer 1

VTP and DTP are two different things.

In summary, VTP is a protocol used to share VLAN information within a domain among connected switches. On the other hand, DTP is a protocol used to negotiate trunking between switch ports on either ends of a link.

DTP

Think of it this way - if you want to automatically setup trunk interfaces on one switch, when the other side is requesting a trunk, you turn to DTP (Dynamic Trunking Protocol). Using the right settings, you’d be able to automatically set an interface to trunk mode, if it is connected to another switch.

VTP

Now lets say you have multiple VLANs that you need to create in your network. But you don’t want to bother going to every single switch and creating these VLANs. So you turn to VTP. You configure the right settings, and you just create the VLANs on one switch. VTP also propagates these VLANs to other switches that are set to client-mode.

In short, they are independent of each other, except for very little overlap. Like for instance, if you have VTP domains configured on 2 switches, and the domains mismatch, then this affects DTPs ability to negotiate trunking between them. But for the purpose of your CCNA, this level of detail is not required.

Answer 2

DTP allows two switches to dynamically negotiate establishing a trunk link between the two.

VTP allows two switches to share VLAN information (or the VLAN database) across a trunk link.

Answer 3

VTP - It's not a trunking protocol its a vlan sinking protocol,VTP uses Layer 2 trunk frames to communicate Vlan information among a group of switches,VTP it's a Cisco proprietary protocol.

DTP - All the switches configured as dynamic mode in default,DTP is a protocol to manage trunk negotiation,it's a Cisco proprietary protocol