RFC 5556 on Transparent Interconnection of Lots of Links (TRILL): Problem and Applicability Statement

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        RFC 5556

        Title:      Transparent Interconnection of Lots of 
                    Links (TRILL): Problem and Applicability Statement 
        Author:     J. Touch, R. Perlman
        Status:     Informational
        Date:       May 2009
        Mailbox:    touch@isi.edu, 
                    Radia.Perlman@sun.com
        Pages:      17
        Characters: 41657
        Updates/Obsoletes/SeeAlso:   None

        I-D Tag:    draft-ietf-trill-prob-06.txt

        URL:        http://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc5556.txt

Current IEEE 802.1 LANs use spanning tree protocols that have a number
of challenges.  These protocols need to strictly avoid loops, even
temporary ones, during route propagation, because of the lack of
header loop detection support.  Routing tends not to take full
advantage of alternate paths, or even non-overlapping pairwise paths
(in the case of spanning trees).  This document addresses these
concerns and suggests applying modern
network-layer routing protocols at the link layer.  This document
assumes that solutions would not address issues of scalability beyond
that of existing IEEE 802.1 bridged links, but that a solution would
be backward compatible with 802.1, including hubs, bridges, and their
existing plug-and-play capabilities.  This memo provides information 
for the Internet community.

This document is a product of the Transparent Interconnection of Lots of Links Working Group of the IETF.

INFORMATIONAL: This memo provides information for the Internet community.
It does not specify an Internet standard of any kind. Distribution of
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