📄 rfc2642.txt
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collected link state advertisements of all switches and links form the protocol's topological database. Designated switch Each multi-access network link has a designated switch. The designated switch generates a link state advertisement for the link and has other special responsibilities in the running of the protocol. The use of a designated switch permits a reduction in the number of adjacencies required on multi-access links. This in turn reduces the amount of routing protocol traffic and the size of the topological database. The designated switch is selected during the discovery process. A designated switch is not selected for a point-to-point network link. Backup designated switch Each multi-access network link has a backup designated switch. The backup designated switch maintains adjacencies with the same switches on the link as the designated switch. This optimizes the failover time when the backup designated switch must take over for the (failed) designated switch. The backup designated switch is selected during the Discovery process. A backup designated switch is not selected for a point- to-point network link.2.2 Differences Between VLSP and OSPF The VLS protocol is derived from the OSPF link-state routing protocol described in [RFC2328].Kane Informational [Page 7]RFC 2642 Cabletron's VLS Protocol Specification August 19992.2.1 Operation at the Physical Layer The primary differences between the VLS and OSPF protocols stem from the fact that OSPF runs over the IP layer, while VLSP runs at the physical MAC layer. This difference has the following repercussions: o VLSP does not support features (such as fragmentation) that are typically provided by network layer service providers. o Due to the unrelated nature of MAC address assignments, VLSP provides no summarization of the address space (such as, classical IP subnet information) or level 2 routing (such as, IS-IS Phase V DECnet). Thus, VLSP does not support grouping switches into areas. All switches exist in a single area. Since a single domain exists within any switch fabric, there is no need for VLSP to provide interdomain reachability. o As mentioned in Section 10.1.1, ISMP uses a single well-known multicast address for all packets. However, parts of the VLS protocol (as derived from OSPF) are dependent on certain network layer addresses -- in particular, the AllSPFSwitches and AllDSwitches multicast addresses that drive the distribution of link state advertisements throughout the switch fabric. In order to facilitate the implementation of the protocol at the physical MAC layer, network layer address information is encapsulated in the protocol packets (see Section 10.3). This information is unbundled and packets are then processed as if they had been sent or received on that multicast address.2.2.2 All Links Treated as Point-to-Point When the switch first comes on line, VLSP assumes all network links are point-to-point and no more than one neighboring switch will be discovered on any one port. Therefore, at startup, VLSP does not send its own Hello packets over its network ports, but instead, relies on the VlanHello protocol [IDhello] for the discovery of its neighbor switches. If a second neighbor is detected on a link, the link is then deemed multi-access and the interface type is changed to broadcast. At that point, VLSP exchanges its own Hello packets with the switches on the link in order to select a designated switch and designated backup switch for the link. This method eliminates unnecessary duplication of message traffic and processing, thereby increasing the overall efficiency of the switch fabric.Kane Informational [Page 8]RFC 2642 Cabletron's VLS Protocol Specification August 1999 Note: Previous versions of VLSP treated all links as if they were broadcast (multi-access). Thus, if VLSP determines that a neighbor switch is running an older version of the protocol software (see Section 6.1), it will change the interface type to broadcast and begin exchanging Hello packets with the single neighbor switch.2.2.3 Routing Path Information Instead of providing the next hop to a destination, VLSP calculates and maintains complete end-to-end path information. On request, a list of individual port identifiers is generated describing a complete path from the source switch to the destination switch. If multiple equal-cost routes exist to a destination switch, up to three paths are calculated and returned.2.2.4 Configurable Parameters OSPF supports (and requires) configurable parameters. In fact, even the default OSPF configuration requires that IP address assignments be specified. On the other hand, no configuration information is ever required for the VLS protocol. Switches are uniquely identified by their base MAC addresses and ports are uniquely identified by the base MAC address of the switch and a port number. While a developer is free to implement configurable parameters for the VLS protocol, the current version of VLSP supports configurable path metrics only. Note that this has the following repercussions: o All switches are assigned a switch priority of 1. This forces the selection of the designated switch to be based solely on base MAC address. o Authentication is not supported.2.2.5 Features Not supported In addition to those features mentioned in the previous sections, the following OSPF features are not supported by the current version of VLSP: o Periodic refresh of link state advertisements. (This optimizes performance by eliminating unnecessary traffic between the switches.) o Routing based on non-zero type of service (TOS). o Use of external routing information for destinations outside the switch fabric.Kane Informational [Page 9]RFC 2642 Cabletron's VLS Protocol Specification August 19992.3 Functional Summary There are essentially four operational stages of the VLS protocol. o Discovery Process The discovery process involves two steps: o Neighboring switches are detected by the VlanHello protocol [IDhello] which then notifies VLSP of the neighbor. o If more than one neighbor switch is detected on a single port, the link is determined to be multi-access. VLSP then sends its own Hello packets over the link in order to discover the full set of neighbors on the link and select a designated switch and designated backup switch for the link. Note that this selection process is unnecessary on point-to-point links. The discovery process is described in more detail in Section 6. o Synchronizing the Databases Adjacencies are used to simplify and speed up the process of synchronizing the topological database (also known as the link state database) maintained by each switch in the fabric. Each switch is only required to synchronize its database with those neighbors to which it is adjacent. This reduces the amount of routing protocol traffic across the fabric, particularly for multi-access links with multiple switches. The process of synchronizing the databases is described in more detail in Section 7. o Maintaining the Databases Each switch advertises its state (also known as its link state) any time its link state changes. Link state advertisements are distributed throughout the switch fabric using a reliable flooding algorithm that ensures that all switches in the fabric are notified of any link state changes. The process of maintaining the databases is described in more detail in Section 8.Kane Informational [Page 10]RFC 2642 Cabletron's VLS Protocol Specification August 1999 o Calculating the Best Paths The link state database consists of the collection of link state advertisements received from each switch. Each switch uses its link state database to calculate a set of best paths, using itself as root, to all other switches in the fabric. The process of recalculating the set of best paths is described in more detail in Section 9.2.4 Protocol Packets In addition to the frame header and the ISMP packet header described in Section 10.1, all VLS protocol packets share a common protocol header, described in Section 10.4. The VLSP packet types are listed below in Table 1. Their formats are described in Section 10.6. Type Packet Name Protocol Function 1 Hello Select DS and Backup DS 2 Database Description Summarize database contents 3 Link State Request Database download 4 Link State Update Database update 5 Link State Ack Flooding acknowledgment Table 1: VLSP Packet Types The Hello packets are used to select the designated switch and the backup designated switch on multi-access links. The Database Description and Link State Request packets are used to form adjacencies. Link State Update and Link State Acknowledgment packets are used to update the topological database. Each Link State Update packet carries a set of link state advertisements. A single Link State Update packet may contain the link state advertisements of several switches. There are two different types of link state advertisement, as shown below in Table 2.Kane Informational [Page 11]RFC 2642 Cabletron's VLS Protocol Specification August 1999 LS Advertisement Advertisement Description Type Name 1 Switch link Originated by all switches. This advertisements advertisement describes the collected states of the switch's interfaces. 2 Network link Originated by the designated switch. advertisements This advertisement contains the list of switches connected to the network link. Table 2: VLSP Link State Advertisements2.5 Protocol Data Structures The VLS protocol is described in this specification in terms of its operation on various protocol data structures. Table 3 lists the primary VLSP data structures, along with the section in which they are described in detail. Structure Name Description Interface Data Structure Section 3 Neighbor Data Structure Section 4 Area Data Structure Section 5 Table 3: VLSP Data Structures2.6 Basic Implementation Requirements An implementation of the VLS protocol requires the following pieces of system support: Timers Two types of timer are required. The first type, known as a one- shot timer, expires once and triggers an event. The second type, known as an interval timer, expires at preset intervals. Interval timers are used to trigger events at periodic intervals. The granularity of both types of timers is one second. Interval timers should be implemented in such a way as to avoid drift. In some switch implementations, packet processing can affect timer execution. For example, on a multi-access link with multiple switches, regular broadcasts can lead to undesirable synchronization of routing packets unless the interval timers have been implemented to avoid drift. If it is not possible toKane Informational [Page 12]RFC 2642 Cabletron's VLS Protocol Specification August 1999 implement drift-free timers, small random amounts of time should be added to or subtracted from the timer interval at each firing. List manipulation primitives Much of the functionality of VLSP is described here in terms of its operation on lists of link state advertisements. Any particular advertisement may be on many such lists. Implementation of VLSP must be able to manipulate these lists, adding and deleting constituent advertisements as necessary. Tasking support Certain procedures described in this specification invoke other procedures. At times, these other procedures should be executed in-line -- that is, before the current procedure has finished. This is indicated in the text by instructions to "execute" a procedure. At other times, the other procedures are to be executed only when the current procedure has finished. This is indicated by instructions to "schedule" a task. Implementation of VLSP must provide these two types of tasking support.2.7 Organization of the Remainder of This Document The remainder of this document is organized as follows:
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