Company XYZ wants to prevent switch loops caused by unidirectional point-to-point link conditions on Rapid...

STP Bridge Assuranceis a mechanism used to protect againstunidirectional link failureson point-to-point STP connections in environments likeRapid PVST+ and MST. When Bridge Assurance is enabled, BPDUs are expected on all BPDUs-capable interfaces. If a switch stops receiving BPDUs on a point-to-point link where Bridge Assurance is enabled, it assumes the link has failed and transitions the port to blocking to prevent a loop.

This is especially useful in high-availability enterprise designs that require protection from unexpected switch behavior or partial link failures.

Why other options are incorrect:

A. BPDU Guard: Protects access ports by placing them in an err-disabled state if BPDUs are received—useful at the edge, not for core loop protection.

C. MSTP: Refers to the protocol itself but does not solve the unidirectional link issue on its own.

D. TRILL: A different architecture (layer 2 routing) and not applicable to Rapid PVST+ or MST-specific protection.