[rbridge] Hierarchical addresses

[Radia Perlman]

Ah. I think I misunderstood a bit the intent of the hierarchical 
addresses in my previous
message. I think the suggestion was for
"endnodes" that don't have a fixed MAC address, so nobody would ever learn
their true MAC address. This was not an attempt to assign hierarchical 
MAC addresses to
all the endnodes, which I assumed.
But even so, you want the perceived MAC address never
to change once assigned, and the RBridge nickname might change, creating 
confusion.

We will achieve some scalability by announcing ranges of MAC addresses 
(perhaps even from the local space)
that an RBridge with virtual attached endnodes can assign. If the block 
of MAC addresses is configured, then
it's the "customer's fault" if the addresses are not unique within the 
campus. Perhaps to avoid misconfiguration,
RBridges can announce the block of MAC addresses they are going to 
assign to virtual attached endnodes.
This can either be for just noticing misconfiguration, or can be a 
negotiation -- choosing a different block if
it conflicts with someone else.

Radia


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