Difference between revisions of "RFC2643"

Latest revision as of 01:29, 20 October 2020

Network Working Group D. Ruffen Request for Comments: 2643 T. Len Category: Informational J. Yanacek

                                      Cabletron Systems Incorporated
                                                         August 1999

         Cabletron's SecureFast VLAN Operational Model
                          Version 1.8

Status of this Memo

This memo provides information for the Internet community. It does not specify an Internet standard of any kind. Distribution of this memo is unlimited.

Copyright Notice

Abstract

Cabletron's SecureFast VLAN (SFVLAN) product implements a distributed connection-oriented switching protocol that provides fast forwarding of data packets at the MAC layer. The product uses the concept of virtual LANs (VLANs) to determine the validity of call connection requests and to scope the broadcast of certain flooded messages.

            4.2.2.1 Creating and Maintaining

      5.2.2 Locating the Probe and Establishing

Introduction

This memo is being distributed to members of the Internet community in order to solicit reactions to the proposals contained herein. While the specification discussed here may not be directly relevant to the research problems of the Internet, it may be of interest to researchers and implementers.

Data Conventions

The methods used in this memo to describe and picture data adhere to the standards of Internet Protocol documentation RFC1700. In particular:

  The convention in the documentation of Internet Protocols is to
  express numbers in decimal and to picture data in "big-endian"
  order.  That is, fields are described left to right, with the most
  significant octet on the left and the least significant octet on
  the right.

  The order of transmission of the header and data described in this
  document is resolved to the octet level.  Whenever a diagram shows
  a group of octets, the order of transmission of those octets is
  the normal order in which they are read in English.

  Whenever an octet represents a numeric quantity the left most bit
  in the diagram is the high order or most significant bit.  That
  is, the bit labeled 0 is the most significant bit.

  Similarly, whenever a multi-octet field represents a numeric
  quantity the left most bit of the whole field is the most
  significant bit.  When a multi-octet quantity is transmitted the
  most significant octet is transmitted first.

Definitions of Commonly Used Terms

This section contains a collection of definitions for terms that have a specific meaning for the SFVLAN product and that are used throughout the text.

Switch ID

  A 10-octet value that uniquely identifies an SFVLAN switch within
  the switch fabric.  The value consists of the 6-octet base MAC
  address of the switch, followed by 4 octets of zeroes.

Network link

  The physical connection between two switches.  A network link is
  associated with a network interface (or port) of a switch.

Network port

  An interface on a switch that attaches to another switch.

Access port

  An interface on a switch that attaches to a user endstation.

Port ID

  A 10-octet value that uniquely identifies an interface of a
  switch.  The value consists of the 6-octet base MAC address of the
  switch, followed by the 4-octet local port number of the
  interface.

Neighboring switches

  Two switches attached to a common (network) link.

Call connection

  A mapping of user traffic through a switch that correlates the
  source and destination address pair specified within the packet to
  an inport and outport pair on the switch.

Call connection path

  A set of 0 to 7 network links over which user traffic travels
  between the source and destination endstations.  Call connection
  paths are selected from a list of alternate equal cost paths
  calculated by the VLS protocol [IDvlsp], and are chosen to load
  balance traffic across the fabric.

Ingress switch

  The owner switch of the source endstation of a call connection.
  That is, the source endstation is attached to one of the local
  access ports of the switch.

Egress switch

  The owner switch of the destination endstation of a call
  connection.  That is, the destination endstation is attached to
  one of the local access ports of the switch.

Intermediate switches

  Any switch along the call connection path on which user traffic
  enters and leaves over network links.  Note that the following
  types of connections have no intermediate switches:

  -  Call connections between source and destination endstations
     that are attached to the same switch -- that is, the ingress
     switch is the same as the egress switch.  Note also that the
     path for this type of connection consists of 0 network links.

  -  Call connections where the ingress and egress switches are
     physical neighbors connected by a single network link.  The
     path for this type of connection consists of a single network
     link.

InterSwitch Message protocol (ISMP)

  The protocol used for interswitch communication between SFVLAN
  switches.

Undirected messages

  Messages that are (potentially) sent to all SFVLAN switches in the
  switch fabric -- that is, they are not directed to any particular
  switch.  ISMP messages with a message type of 5, 7 or 8 are
  undirected messages.

Switch flood path

  The path used to send undirected messages throughout the switch
  fabric.  The switch flood path is formed using a spanning tree
  algorithm that provides a single path through the switch fabric
  that guarantees loop-free delivery to every other SFVLAN switch in
  the fabric.

Upstream Neighbor

  That switch attached to the inport of the switch flood path --
  that is, the switch from which undirected messages are received.
  Note that each switch receiving an undirected message has, at
  most, one upstream neighbor, and the originator of any undirected
  ISMP message has no upstream neighbors.

Downstream Neighbors

  Those switches attached to all outports of the switch flood path
  except the port on which the undirected message was received.
  Note that for each undirected message some number of switches have
  no downstream neighbors.

Virtual LAN (VLAN) identifier

  A VLAN is a logical grouping of ports and endstations such that
  all ports and endstations in the VLAN appear to be on the same
  physical (or extended) LAN segment even though they may be
  geographically separated.

  A VLAN identifier consists of a variable-length string of octets.
  The first octet in the string contains the number of octets in the
  remainder of the string -- the actual VLAN identifier value.  A
  VLAN identifier can be from 1 to 16 octets long.

VLAN policy

  Each VLAN has an assigned policy value used to determine whether a
  particular call connection can be established. SFVLAN recognizes
  two policy values:  Open and Secure.

SFVLAN Overview

Cabletron's SecureFast VLAN (SFVLAN) product implements a distributed connection-oriented switching protocol that provides fast forwarding of data packets at the MAC layer.

Features

Within a connection-oriented switching network, user traffic is routed through the switch fabric based on the source and destination address (SA/DA) pair found in the arriving packet. For each SA/DA pair encountered by a switch, a "connection" is programmed into the switch hardware. This connection maps the SA/DA pair and the port on which the packet was received to a specific outport over which the packet is to be forwarded. Thus, once a connection has been established, all packets with a particular SA/DA pair arriving on a particular inport are automatically forwarded by the switch hardware out the specified outport.

A distributed switching environment requires that each switch be capable of processing all aspects of the call processing and switching functionality. Thus, each switch must synchronize its various databases with all other switches in the fabric or be capable of querying other switches for information it does not have locally.

SFVLAN accomplishes the above objectives by providing the following features:

- A virtual directory of the entire switch fabric.

- Call processing for IP, IPX and MAC protocols.

- Automatic call connection, based on VLAN policy.

- Automatic call rerouting around failed switches and links.

In addition, SFVLAN optimizes traffic flow across the switch fabric by providing the following features:

- Broadcast interception and address resolution at the ingress port.

- Broadcast scoping, restricting the flooding of broadcast packets

  to only those ports that belong to the same VLAN as the packet
  source.

- A single loop-free path (spanning tree) used for the flooding of

  undirected interswitch control messages.  Only switches running
  the SFVLAN switching protocol are included in this spanning tree
  calculation -- that is, traditional bridges or routers configured
  for bridging are not included.

- Interception of both service and route advertisements with

  readvertisement sourced from the MAC address of the original
  advertiser.

VLAN Principles

Each SFVLAN switch port, along with its attached endstations, belongs to one or more virtual LANs (VLANs). A VLAN is a logical grouping of ports and endstations such that all ports and endstations in the VLAN appear to be on the same physical (or extended) LAN segment even though they may be geographically separated.

VLAN assignments are used to determine the validity of call connection requests and to scope the broadcast of certain flooded messages.

Default, Base and Inherited VLANs

Each port is explicitly assigned to a default VLAN. At start-up, the default VLAN to which all ports are assigned is the base VLAN -- a permanent, non-deletable VLAN to which all ports belong at all times.

The network administrator can change the default VLAN of a port from the base VLAN to any other unique VLAN by using a management application known here as the VLAN Manager. A port's default VLAN is persistent -- that is, it is preserved across a switch reset.

When an endstation attaches to a port for the first time, it inherits the default VLAN of the port. Using the VLAN Manager, the network administrator can reassign an endstation to another VLAN.

  Note:

     When all ports and all endstations belong to the base VLAN, the
     switch fabric behaves like an 802.1D bridging system.

VLAN Configuration Modes

For both ports and endstations, there are a variety of VLAN configuration types, or modes.

Endstations

For endstations, there are two VLAN configuration modes: inherited and static.

- Inherited

  An inherited endstation becomes a member of its port's default
  VLAN.

- Static

  A static port becomes a member of the VLAN to which it has been
  assigned by the VLAN Manager.

The default configuration mode for an endstation is inherited.

Ports

For ports, there are two VLAN configuration modes: normal and locked.

- Normal

  All inherited endstations on a normal port become members of the
  port's default VLAN.  All static endstations are members of the
  VLAN to which they were mapped by the VLAN Manager.

  If the VLAN Manager reassigns the default VLAN of a normal port,
  the VLAN(s) for the attached endstations may or may not change,
  depending on the VLAN configuration mode of each endstation.  All
  inherited endstations will become members of the new default VLAN.
  All others will retain membership in their previously mapped
  VLANs.

- Locked

  All endstations attached to a locked port can be members only of
  the port's default VLAN.

  If the VLAN Manager reconfigures a normal port to be a locked
  port, all endstations attached to the port become members of the
  port's default VLAN, regardless of any previous VLAN membership.

The default configuration mode for ports is normal.

Order of Precedence

On a normal port, static VLAN membership prevails over inherited membership.

On a locked port, default VLAN membership prevails over any static VLAN membership.

If a statically assigned endstation moves from a locked port back to a normal port, the endstation's static VLAN membership must be preserved.

Ports with Multiple VLAN Membership

A port can belong to multiple VLANs, based on the VLAN membership of its attached endstations.

For example, consider a port with three endstations, a default VLAN of "blue" and the following endstation VLAN assignments:

- One of the endstations is statically assigned to VLAN "red." - Another endstation is statically assigned to VLAN "green." - The third endstation inherits the default VLAN of "blue."

In this instance, the port is explicitly a member of VLAN "blue." But note that it is also implicitly a member of VLAN "red" and VLAN "green." Any tag-based flooding (Section 4.8) directed to any one of the three VLANs ("red," "green," or "blue") will be forwarded out the port.

Tag/Length/Value Method of Addressing

Within most computer networks, the concept of "address" is somewhat elusive because different protocols can (and do) use different addressing schemes and formats. For example, Ethernet (physical layer) addresses are six octets long, while IP (network layer) addresses are only four octets long.

To distinguish between the various protocol-specific forms of addressing, many software modules within the SFVLAN product specify addresses in a format known as Tag/Length/Value (TLV). This format uses a variable-length construct as shown below:

0                   1                   2                   3
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1

+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | Tag | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ | Value length | | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ + | Address value |

:

| | +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

Tag

  This 4-octet field specifies the type of address contained in the
  structure.  The following address types are currently supported:

     Tag name        Value    Address type

     aoMacDx         1        DX ethernet dst/src/type
     aoIpxSap        2        Sap
     aoIpxRIP        3        RIP
     aoInstYP        4        YP (YP name and version)
     aoInstUDP       5        UDP (Port #)
     aoIpxIpx        6        Ipx
     aoInetIP        7        IP (Net address)
     aoInetRPC       8        RPC (Program #)
     aoInetRIP       9        INET RIP
     aoMacDXMcast    10       Multicast unknown type
     aoAtDDP         11       AppleTalk DDP
     aoEmpty         12       (no address type specified)
     aoVlan          13       VLAN identifier
     aoHostName      14       Host name
     aoNetBiosName   15       NetBIOS name
     aoNBT           16       NetBIOS on TCP name
     aoInetIPMask    17       IP Subnet Mask
     aoIpxSap8022    18       Sap 8022 type service
     aoIpxSapSnap    19       Sap Snap type service
     aoIpxSapEnet    20       Sap Enet type service
     aoDHCPXID       21       DHCP Transaction ID
     aoIpMcastRx     22       IP class D receiver
     aoIpMcastTx     23       IP class D sender
     aoIpxRip8022    24       Ipx Rip 8022 type service
     aoIpxRipSnap    25       Ipx Rip type service
     aoIpxRipEnet    26       Ipx Rip Enet service
     aoATM           27       ATM
     aoATMELAN       28       ATM LAN Emulation Name

Value length

  This 1-octet field contains the length of the value of the
  address.  The value here depends on the address type and actual
  value.

Address value

  This variable-length field contains the value of the address. The
  length of this field is stored in the Value length field.

Architectural Overview

The SFVLAN software executes in the switch CPU and consists of the following elements as shown in Figure 1:

- The SFVLAN base services that handles traffic intercepted by the

  switch hardware.  The base services are described in Section 3.

+------------------------------------------------------+ | +-----+ | | +------------+ | I | | | | CALL TAP <--(8)--> N | | | +------------+ | T | | | | E | | | +-----------+ +------------+ | R | | | | PATH | | TOPOLOGY | | S | | | | | | | | W | | | | Lnk state <------> Lnk state <--(3)--> I | | Flood path | | | | | | T <----(5,7,8)--> | | Span tree <------> Span tree <--(4)--> C | | | +--^--------+ | | | H | | | | | Discovery <--(2)--> | | | | +------------+ | M | | | | | E | | | +------^--+ +--------+ | S | | | | CONNECT >---------+--> FILTER | | S | | | +--^------+ | +--------+ | A | | specific | | | | G | | netwrk lnks | | +--------^-+ +-------+ | E <----(2,3,4)--> | +-------< POLICY | | FLOOD >--(7)--> | | | +------^---+ +-^-----+ | P | | | | | | R | | | +-----------+ +-^-----------V-+ | O | | | | DIRECTORY <----> RESOLVE <------(5)--> T | | | +-----^-----+ +---^-----------+ | O | | | | | | C | | | | +---------^-----------+ | O | | | +----< Base Services | | L | | | +-----^---------------+ +-----+ | +------------------|-----------------------------------+

Switch CPU        |
                  | Host control port
            +-----O----------------+
            |     ^ no cnx         |
  Layer 2   |     |                |
 ---------->O-----+--------------->O----------->
  SA/DA pr  |          known cnx   |
            +----------------------+
             Switch hardware

               Figure 1:  SFVLAN Architectural Overview

- Eight call processing service centers that provide the essential

  services required to process call connections.  The call
  processing service centers are described in Section 4.

- A Call Tap module that supports the monitoring of call

  connections.  The Call Tap module is described in Section 5.

- The InterSwitch Message Protocol (ISMP) that provides a consistent

  method of encapsulating and transmitting control messages
  exchanged between SFVLAN switches.  (Note that ISMP is not a
  discrete software module.  Instead, its functionality is
  distributed among those service centers and software modules that
  need to communicate with other switches in the fabric.) The
  Interswitch Message Protocol and the formats of the individual
  interswitch messages are described in Section 6.

Base Services

The SFVLAN base services act as the interface between the switch hardware and the SFVLAN service centers running on the switch CPU. This relationship is shown in Figure 2. This figure is a replication of the bottom portion of Figure 1.

        |    Directory       Resolve                   |
        |        ^              ^                      |
        |        |              |                      |
        |        |    +---------^-----------+          |
        |        +----<    Base Services    |          |
        |             +-----^---------------+          |
        +-------------------|--------------------------+
         Switch CPU         |
                            | Host control port
                      +-----O----------------+
                      |     ^ no cnx         |
            Layer 2   |     |                |
           ---------->O-----+--------------->O----------->
            SA/DA pr  |          known cnx   |
                      +----------------------+
                       Switch hardware

                    Figure 2:  Base Services

During normal operation of the switch, data packets arriving at any one of the local switch ports are examined in the switch hardware. If the packet's source and destination address (SA/DA) pair match a known connection, the hardware simply forwards the packet out the outport specified by the connection.

If the SA/DA pair do not match any known connection, the hardware diverts the packet to the host control port where it is picked up by the SFVLAN base services. The base services generate a structure known as a state box that tracks the progress of the call connection request as the request moves through the call processing service centers.

After creating the call's state box, the base services check to determine if the call is a duplicate of a call already being processed. If not, a request is issued to the Directory Service Center (Section 4.1) to add the call's source address to the local Node and Alias Tables. The base services then hand the call off to the Resolve Service Center (Section 4.3) for further processing.

Call Processing

Call connection processing is handled by a set of eight service centers, each with one or more servers. The servers within a service center are called in a particular sequence. Each server records the results of its processing in the call connection request state box and passes the state box to the next server in the sequence.

In the sections that follow, servers are listed in the order in which they are called.

Directory Service Center

The Directory Service Center is responsible for cataloging the MAC addresses and alias information for both local and remote endstations. The information is stored in two tables -- the Node Table and the Alias Table.

- The Node Table contains the MAC addresses of endstations

  attached to the local switch.  It also contains a cache of
  remote endstations detected by the Resolve Service Center
  (Section 4.3).   Every entry in the Node Table has one or more
  corresponding entries in the Alias Table.

- The Alias Table contains protocol alias information for each

  endstation.  An endstation alias can be a network address (such
  as an IP or IPX address), a VLAN identifier, or any other
  protocol identifier.  Since every endstation is a member of at
  least one VLAN (the default VLAN for the port), there is always
  at least one entry in the Alias Table for each entry in the
  Node Table.

  Note:

     The Node and Alias Tables must remain synchronized.
     That is, when an endstation's final alias is removed
     from the Alias Table, the endstation entry is removed
     from the Node Table.

Note that the total collection of all Node Tables and Alias Tables across all switches is known as the "virtual" directory of the switch fabric. The virtual directory contains address mappings of all known endstations in the fabric.

Local Add Server

The Directory Local Add server adds entries to the local Node or Alias Tables. It is called by the base services (Section 3) to add a local endstation and by the Interswitch Resolve (Section 4.3.4) server to add an endstation discovered on a remote switch.

Inverse Resolve Server

The Directory Inverse Resolve server is invoked when a new endstation has been discovered on the local switch (that is, when the Local Add server was successful in adding the endstation). The server provides two functions:

- It populates the Node and Alias Tables with local entries

  during switch initialization.

- It processes a new endstation discovered after the fabric

  topology has converged to a stable state.

In both instances, the processing is identical.

When a new endstation is detected on one of the switch's local ports, the Inverse Resolve server sends an Interswitch New User request message (Section 6.5) over the switch flood path to all other switches in the fabric. The purpose of the Interswitch New User request is two-fold:

- It informs the other switches of the new endstation address.

  Any entries for that endstation in the local databases of other
  switches should be dealt with appropriately.

- It requests information about any static VLAN(s) to which the

  endstation has been assigned.

When a switch receives an Interswitch New User request message from one of its upstream neighbors, it first forwards the message to all its downstream neighbors. No actual processing or VLAN resolution is attempted until the message reaches the end of the switch flood path and begins its trip back along the return path. This ensures that all switches in the fabric receive notification of the new user and have synchronized their databases.

If a switch receives an Interswitch New User request message but has no downstream neighbors, it does the following:

- If the endstation was previously connected to one of the

  switch's local ports, the switch formulates an Interswitch New
  User Response message by loading the VLAN identifier(s) of the
  static VLAN(s) to which the endstation was assigned, along with
  its own MAC address.  (VLAN identifiers are stored in
  Tag/Length/Value (TLV) format.  See Section 2.3.)  The switch
  then sets the message status field to NewUserAck, and returns
  the message to its upstream (requesting) neighbor.

  Otherwise, the switch sets the status field to NewUserUnknown
  and returns the message to its upstream neighbor.

- The switch then deletes the endstation from its local database,

  as well as any entries associated with the endstation in its
  connection table.

When a switch forwards an Interswitch New User request message to its downstream neighbors, it keeps track of the number of requests it has sent out and does not respond back to its upstream neighbor until all requests have been responded to.

- As each response is received, the switch checks the status

  field of the message.  If the status is NewUserAck, the switch
  retains the information in that response.  When all requests
  have been responded to, the switch returns the NewUserAck
  response to its upstream neighbor.

- If all the Interswitch New User Request messages have been

  responded to with a status of NewUserUnknown, the switch checks
  to see if the endstation was previously connected to one of its
  local ports.  If so, the switch formulates an Interswitch New
  User Response message by loading the VLAN identifier(s) of the
  static VLAN(s) to which the endstation was assigned, along with
  its own MAC address.  The switch then sets the message status
  field to NewUserAck, and returns the message to its upstream
  (requesting) neighbor.

  Otherwise, the switch sets the status field to NewUserUnknown
  and returns the message to its upstream neighbor.

- The switch then deletes the endstation from its local database,

  as well as any entries associated with the endstation in its
  connection table.

When the originating switch has received responses to all the Interswitch New User Request messages it has sent, it does the following:

- If it has received a response message with a status of

  NewUserAck, it loads the new VLAN information into its local
  database.

- If all responses have been received with a status of

  NewUserUnknown, the originating switch assumes that the
  endstation was not previously connected anywhere in the network
  and assigns it to a VLAN according to the VLAN membership rules
  and order of precedence.

If any Interswitch New User Request message has not been responded to within a certain predetermined time (currently 5 seconds), the originating switch recalculates the switch flood path and resends the Interswitch New User Request message.

Local Delete Server

The Directory Local Delete server removes entries (both local and remote) from the local Node and Alias Tables. It is invoked when an endstation, previously known to be attached to one switch, has been moved and discovered on another switch.

Note also that remote entries are cached and are purged from the tables on a first-in/first-out basis as space is needed in the cache.

Topology Service Center

The Topology Service Center is responsible for maintaining three databases relating to the topology of the switch fabric:

- The topology table of SFVLAN switches that are physical

  neighbors to the local switch.

- The spanning tree that defines the loop-free switch flood path

  used for transmitting undirected interswitch messages.

- The directed graph that is used to calculate the best path(s)

  for call connections.

Neighbor Discovery Server

The Topology Neighbor Discovery server uses Interswitch Keepalive messages to detect the switch's neighbors and establish the topology of the switching fabric. Interswitch Keepalive messages are exchanged in accordance with Cabletron's VlanHello protocol, described in detail in [IDhello].

Spanning Tree Server

The Topology Spanning Tree server is invoked by the Topology Neighbor Discovery server when a neighboring SFVLAN switch is either discovered or lost -- that is, when the operational status of a network link changes.

The Spanning Tree server exchanges interswitch messages with neighboring SFVLAN switches to calculate the switch flood path over which undirected interswitch messages are sent. There are two parts to this process:

- Creating and maintaining the spanning tree - Remote blocking

Creating and Maintaining the Spanning Tree

In a network with redundant network links, a packet traveling between switches can potentially be caught in an infinite loop -- an intolerable situation in a networking environment. However, it is possible to reduce a network topology to a single configuration (known as a spanning tree) such that there is, at most, one path between any two switches.

Within the SFVLAN product, the spanning tree is created and maintained using the Spanning Tree Algorithm defined by the IEEE 802.1d standard.

  Note:

     A detailed discussion of this algorithm is beyond the scope of
     this document.  See [IEEE] for more information.

To implement the Spanning Tree Algorithm, SFVLAN switches exchange Interswitch BPDU messages (Section 6.2) containing encapsulated IEEE-compliant 802.2 Bridge Protocol Data Units (BPDUs). There are two types of BPDUs:

- Configuration (CFG) BPDUs are exchanged during the switch

  discovery process, following the receipt of an Interswitch
  Keepalive message.  They are used to create the initial the
  spanning tree.

- Topology Change Notification (TCN) BPDUs are exchanged when

  changes in the network topology are detected.  They are used to
  redefine the spanning tree to reflect the current topology.

See [IEEE] for detailed descriptions of these BPDUs.

Remote Blocking

After the spanning tree has been computed, each network port on an SFVLAN switch will be in one of two states:

- Forwarding. A port in the Forwarding state will be used to

  transmit all ISMP messages.

- Blocking. A port in the Blocking state will not be used to

  forward undirected ISMP messages.  Blocking the rebroadcast of
  these messages on selected ports prevents message duplication
  arising from multiple paths that exist in the network topology.
  Note that all other types of ISMP message will be transmitted.

  Note:

     The IEEE 802.1d standard specifies other port states used
     during the initial creation of the spanning tree. These states
     are not relevant to the discussion here.

Note that although a port in the Blocking state will not forward undirected ISMP messages, it may still receive them. Any such message received will ultimately be discarded, but at the cost of CPU time necessary to process the packet.

To prevent the transmission of undirected messages to a port, the port's owner switch can set remote blocking on the link by sending an Interswitch Remote Blocking message (Section 6.3) out over the port. This notifies the switch on the other end of the link that undirected messages should not be sent over the link, regardless of the state of the sending port.

Each SFVLAN switch sends an Interswitch Remote Blocking message out over all its blocked network ports every 5 seconds. A flag within the message indicates whether remote blocking should be turned on or off over the link.

Link State Server

The Topology Link State server is invoked by any process that detects a change in the state of the network links of the local switch. These changes include (but are not limited to) changes in operational or administrative status of the link, path "cost" or bandwidth.

The Link State server runs Cabletron's Virtual LAN Link State (VLS) protocol which exchanges interswitch messages with neighboring SFVLAN switches to calculate the set of best paths between the local switch and all other switches in the fabric. (The VLS protocol is described in detail in [IDvlsp].)

The Link State server also notifies the Connect Service Center (Section 4.5) of any remote links that have failed, thereby necessitating potential tear-down of current connections.

Resolve Service Center

The Resolve Service Center is responsible for resolving the destination address of broadcast data packets (such as an IP ARP packet) to a unicast MAC address to be used in mapping the call connection. To do this, the Resolve Service Center attempts to resolve such broadcast packets directly at the access port of the ingress switch.

Address resolution is accomplished as follows:

1) First, an attempt is made to resolve the address from the switch's

  local databases by calling the following servers:

  -  The Table server attempts to resolve the address from the
     Resolve Table (Section 4.3.1).

  -  Next, the Local server attempts to resolve the address from the
     Node and Alias Tables (Section 4.3.2).

  -  If the address is not found in these tables but is an IP
     address, the Resolve Subnet server (Section 4.3.3) is also
     called.

2) If the address cannot be resolved locally, the Interswitch Resolve

  server (Section 4.3.4) is called to access the "virtual directory"
  by sending an Interswitch Resolve request message out over the
  switch flood path.

3) If the address cannot be resolved either locally or via an

  Interswitch Resolve message -- that is, the destination endstation
  is unknown to any switch, perhaps because it has never transmitted
  a packet to its switch -- the following steps are taken:

  -  The Unresolvable server (Section 4.3.5) is called to record the
     unresolved packet.

  -  The Block server (Section 4.3.6) is called to determine whether
     the address should be added to the Block Table.

  -  The Flood Service Center (Section 4.8) is called to broadcast
     the packet to other SFVLAN switches using a tag-based flooding
     mechanism.

Table Server

The Resolve Table server maintains the Resolve Table which contains a collection of addresses that might not be resolvable in the normal fashion. This table typically contains such things as the addresses of "quiet" devices that do not send data packets or special mappings of IP addresses behind a router. Entries can be added to or deleted from the Resolve Table via an external management application.

Local Server

The Resolve Local server checks the Node and Alias Tables maintained by the Directory Service Center (Section 4.1) to determine if it can resolve the address.

Subnet Server

If the address to be resolved is an IP address but cannot be resolved via the standard processing described above, the Resolve Subnet server applies the subnet mask to the IP address and then does a lookup in the Resolve Table.

Interswitch Resolve Server

If the address cannot be resolved locally, the Interswitch Resolve server accesses the "virtual directory" by sending an Interswitch Resolve request message (Section 6.4) out over the switch flood path. The Interswitch Resolve request message contains the destination address as it was received within the packet, along with a list of requested addressing information.

When a switch receives an Interswitch Resolve request message from one of its upstream neighbors, it checks to see if the destination endstation is connected to one of its local access ports. If so, it formulates an Interswitch Resolve response message by filling in the requested address information, along with its own MAC address. It then sets the message status field to ResolveAck, and returns the message to its upstream (requesting) neighbor.

If the receiving switch cannot resolve the address, it forwards the Interswitch Resolve request message to its downstream neighbors. If the switch has no downstream neighbors, it sets the message status field to Unknown, and returns the message to its upstream (requesting) neighbor.

When a switch forwards an Interswitch Resolve request message to its downstream neighbors, it keeps track of the number of requests it has sent out and received back. It will only respond back to its upstream (requesting) neighbor when one of the following conditions occurs:

- It receives any response with a status of ResolveAck

- All downstream neighbors have responded with a status of Unknown

Any Interswitch Resolve request message that is not responded to within a certain predetermined time (currently 5 seconds) is assumed to have a response status of Unknown.

When the Interswitch Resolve server receives a successful Interswitch Resolve response message, it records the resolved address information in the remote cache of its local directory for use in resolving later packets for the same endstation. Note that this process results in each switch building its own unique copy of the virtual directory containing only the endstation addresses in which it is interested.

Unresolvable Server

The Unresolvable server is called when a packet destination address cannot be resolved. The server records the packet in a table that can then be examined to determine which endstations are generating unresolvable traffic.

Also, if a particular destination is repeatedly seen to be unresolvable, the server calls the Block server (Section 4.3.6) to determine whether the address should be blocked.

Block Server

The Resolve Block server is called when a particular destination has been repeatedly seen to be unresolvable. This typically happens when, unknown to the packet source, the destination endstation is either not currently available or no longer exists.

If the Block server determines that the unresolved address has exceeded a configurable request threshold, the address is added to the server's Block Table. Interswitch Resolve request messages for addresses listed in the Block Table are sent less frequently, thereby reducing the amount of Interswitch Resolve traffic throughout the fabric.

If an address listed in the Block Table is later successfully resolved by and Interswitch Resolve request message, the address is removed from the table.

Policy Service Center

Once the destination address of the call packet has been resolved, the Policy Service Center is called to determine the validity of the requested call connection based on the VLAN policy of the source and destination VLANs.

Unicast Rules Server

The Policy Unicast Rules server recognizes two VLAN policy values: Open or Secure. The default policy for all VLANs is Open.

The policy value is used as follows when determining the validity of a requested call connection:

- If the VLAN policy of either the source or destination cannot be

  determined, the Filter Service Center is called to establish a
  filter (i.e., blocked) for the SA/DA pair.

- If the source and destination endstations belong to the same VLAN,

  then the connection is permitted regardless of the VLAN policy.

- If the source and destination endstations belong to different

  VLANs, but both VLANs are running with an Open policy, then the
  connection is permitted, providing cut-through switching between
  different VLAN(s).

- If the source and destination endstations belong to different

  VLANs and one or both of the VLANs are running with a Secure
  policy, then the Flood Service Center (Section 4.8) is called to
  broadcast the packet to other SFVLAN switches having ports or
  endstations that belong to the same VLAN as the packet source.

  Note that if any of the VLANs to which the source or destination
  belong has a Secure policy, then the policy used in the above
  algorithm is Secure.

Connect Service Center

Once the Policy Service Center (Section 4.4) has determined that a requested call connection is valid, the Connect Service Center is called to set up the connection. Note that connectivity between two endstations within the fabric is established on a switch-by-switch basis as the call progresses through the fabric toward its destination. No synchronization is needed between switches to establish an end-to-end connection.

The Connect Service Center maintains a Connection Table containing information for all connections currently active on the switch's local ports.

Connections are removed from the Connection Table when one of the endstations is moved to a new switch (Section 4.1.2) or when the Topology Link State server (Section 4.2.3) notifies the Connect Service Center that a network link has failed. Otherwise, connections are not automatically aged out or removed from the Connection Table until a certain percentage threshold (HiMark) of table capacity is reached and resources are needed. At that point, some number of connections (typically 100) are aged out and removed at one time.

Local Server

If the destination endstation resides on the local switch, the Connect Local server establishes a connection between the source and destination ports. Note that if the source and destination both reside on the same physical port, a filter connection is established by calling the Filter Service Center (Section 4.6).

Link State Server

The Connect Link State server is called if the destination endstation of the proposed connection does not reside on the local switch.

The server executes a call to the Path Link State server (Section 4.7.1) which returns up to three "best" paths of equal cost from the local switch to the destination switch. If more than one path is returned, the server chooses a path that provides the best load balancing of user traffic across the fabric.

Directory Server

The Connect Directory server is called if the Connect Link State server is unable to provide a path for some reason.

The server examines the local directory to determine on which switch the destination endstation resides. If the port of access to the destination switch is known, then a connection is established using that port as the outport of the connection.

Filter Service Center

The Filter Service Center is responsible for establishing filtered connections. This service center is called by the Connect Local server (Section 4.5.1) if the source and destination endstations reside on the same physical port, and by the Policy Service Center (Section 4.4) if the VLAN of either the source or destination is indeterminate.

A filter connection is programmed in the switch hardware with no specified outport. That is, the connection is programmed to discard any traffic for that SA/DA pair.

Path Service Center

The Path Service Center is responsible for determining the path from a source to a destination.

Link State Server

The Path Link State server is called by the Connect Link State server (Section 4.5.2) to return up to three best paths of equal cost between a source and destination pair of endstations. These best paths are calculated by the Topology Link State server (Section 4.2.3).

The Path Link State server is also called by the Connect Service Center to return a complete source-to-destination path consisting of a list of individual switch port names. A switch port name consists of the switch base MAC address and a port instance relative to the switch.

Spanning Tree Server

The Path Spanning Tree server is called by any server needing to forward an undirected message out over the switch flood path. The server returns a port mask indicating which local ports are currently enabled as outports of the switch flood path. The switch flood path is calculated by the Topology Spanning Tree server (Section 4.2.2).

Flood Service Center

If the Resolve Service Center (Section 4.3) is unable to resolve the destination address of a packet, it invokes the Flood Service Center to broadcast the unresolved packet.

Tag-Based Flood Server

The Tag-Based Flood server encapsulates the unresolved packet into an Interswitch Tag-Based Flood message (Section 6.6), along with a list of Virtual LAN identifiers specifying those VLANs to which the source endstation belongs. The message is then sent out over the switch flood path to all other switches in the fabric.

When a switch receives an Interswitch Tag-Based Flood message, it examines the encapsulated header to determine the VLAN(s) to which the packet should be sent. If any of the switch's local access ports belong to one or more of the specified VLANs, the switch strips off the tag-based header and forwards the original packet out the appropriate access port(s).

The switch also forwards the entire encapsulated packet along the switch flood path to its downstream neighboring switches, if any.

Monitoring Call Connections

The SecureFast VLAN product permits monitoring of user traffic moving between two endstations by establishing a call tap on the connection between the two stations. Traffic can be monitored in one or both directions along the connection path.

Definitions

In addition to the terms defined in Section 1.2, the following terms are used in this description of the call tap process.

Originating Switch

  The originating switch is the switch that requests the call tap.
  Any switch along a call connection path may request a tap on that
  call connection.

Probe

  The tap probe is the device to receive a copy of the call
  connection data.  The probe is attached to a port on the probe
  switch.

Probe Switch

  The probe switch (also known as the terminating switch) is the
  switch to which the probe is attached.  The probe switch can be
  anywhere in the topology.

Tapping a Connection

A request to tap a call connection between two endstations can originate on any switch along the call connection path -- the ingress switch, the egress switch, or any of the intermediate switches. The call connection must have already been established before a call tap request can be issued. The probe device can be attached to any switch in the topology.

Types of Tap Connections

A call tap is enabled by setting up an auxiliary tap connection associated with the call being monitored. Since the tap must originate on a switch somewhere along the call connection path, the tap connection path will pass through one or more of the switches along the call path. However, since the probe switch can be anywhere in the switch fabric, the tap path and the call path may diverge at some point.

Therefore, on each switch along the tap path, the tap connection is established in one of three ways:

- The existing call connection is used with no modification.

     When both the call path and tap path pass through the switch,
     and the inport and outports of both connections are identical,
     the switch uses the existing call connection to route the tap.

- The existing call connection is modified.

     When both the call path and tap path pass through the switch,
     but the call path outport is different from the tap path
     outport, the switch enables an extra outport in either one or
     both directions of the call connection, depending on the
     direction of the tap.  This happens under two conditions.

- If the switch is also the probe switch, an extra outport is

     enabled to the probe.

- If the switch is the point at which the call path and the tap path

     diverge, an extra outport is enabled to the downstream neighbor
     on that leg of the switch flood path on which the probe switch
     is located.

- A new connection is established.

     If the call path does not pass through the switch (because the
     tap path has diverged from the call path), a completely new
     connection is established for the tap.

Locating the Probe and Establishing the Tap Connection

To establish a call tap, the originating switch formats an Interswitch Tap request message (Section 6.7) and sends it out over the switch flood path to all other switches in the topology.

  Note:

     If the originating switch is also the probe switch, no
     Interswitch Tap request message is necessary.

As the Interswitch Tap request message travels out along the switch flood path, each switch receiving the message checks to see if it is the probe switch and does the following:

- If the switch is the probe switch, it establishes the tap

  connection by either setting up a new connection or modifying the
  call connection, as appropriate (see Section 5.2.1).  It then
  reformats the Tap request message to be a Tap response message
  with a status indicating that the probe has been found, and sends
  the message back to its upstream neighbor.

- If the switch is not the probe switch, it forwards the Tap request

  message to all its downstream neighbors (if any).

- If the switch is not the probe switch and has no downstream

  neighbors, it reformats the Tap request message to be a Tap
  response message with a status indicating that the probe is not

  located on that leg of the switch flood path.   It then sends the
  response message back to its upstream neighbor.

  When a switch forwards an Interswitch Tap request message to its
  downstream neighbors, it keeps track of the number of requests it
  has sent out.

- If a response is received with a status indicating that the probe

  switch is located somewhere downstream, the switch establishes the
  appropriate type of tap connection (see Section 5.2.1).  It then
  formats a Tap response message with a status indicating that the
  probe has been found and passes the message to its upstream
  neighbor.

- If no responses are received with a status indicating that the

  probe switch is located downstream, the switch formats a Tap
  response message with a status indicating that the probe has not
  been found and passes the message to its upstream neighbor.

Status Field

The status field of the Interswitch Tap request/response message contains information about the state of the tap. Some of these status values are transient and are merely used to track the progress of the tap request. Other status values are stored in the tap table of each switch along the tap path for use when the tap is torn down. The possible status values are as follows:

- StatusUnassigned. This is the initial status of the Interswitch

  Tap request message.

- OutportDecisionUnknown. The tap request is still moving

  downstream along the switch flood path.  The probe switch had not
  yet been found.

- ProbeNotFound. The probe switch is not located on this leg of the

  switch flood path.

- DisableOutport. The probe switch is located on this leg of the

  switch flood path, and the switch has had to either modify the
  call connection or establish a new connection to implement the tap
  (see Section 5.2.1).  When the tap is torn down, the switch will
  have to disable any additional outports that have been enabled for
  the tap.

- KeepOutport. The probe switch is located on this leg of the

  switch flood path, and the switch was able to route the tap over
  the existing call path (see Section 5.2.1).  Any ports used for

  the tap will remain enabled when the tap is torn down.

Untapping a Connection

A request to untap a call connection must be issued on the tap originating switch -- that is, the same switch that issued the tap request.

To untap a call connection, the originating switch sends an Interswitch Untap request message (Section 6.7) out over the switch flood path to all other switches in the topology. The message is sent over the switch flood path, rather than the tap connection path, to ensure that all switches that know of the tap are properly notified, even if the switch topology has changed since the tap was established.

When a switch receives an Interswitch Untap request message, it checks to see if it is handling a tap for the specified call connection. If so, the switch disables the tap connection, as follows:

- If a new connection was added for the tap, the connection is

  deleted from the connection table.

- If additional outports were enabled on the call connection, they

  are disabled.

The switch then forwards the Interswitch Untap request message to its downstream neighbor (if any). If the switch has no downstream neighbors, it formats an untap response and sends the message back to its upstream neighbor.

When a switch forwards an Interswitch Untap request message to its downstream neighbors, it keeps track of the number of requests it has sent out and does not respond back to its upstream neighbor until all untap requests have been responded to. Once all responses have been received, the switch handles any final cleanup for the tap and then sends a single Interswitch Untap response message to its upstream neighbor.

Interswitch Message Protocol (ISMP)

The InterSwitch Message protocol (ISMP) provides a consistent method of encapsulating and transmitting messages exchanged between switches to create and maintain the databases and provide other control services and functionality required by the SFVLAN product.

General Packet Structure

ISMP packets are of variable length and have the following general structure:

- Frame header - ISMP packet header - ISMP message body

Each of these packet segments is discussed separately in the following subsections.

Frame Header

ISMP packets are encapsulated within an IEEE 802-compliant frame using a standard header as shown below:

   0                   1                   2                   3
   0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1
  +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

00 | |

  +      Destination address      +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

04 | | |

  +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+        Source address         +

08 | |

  +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

12 | Type | |

  +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+                               +

16 | |

  +                                                               +
  :                                                               :

Destination address

  This 6-octet field contains the Media Access Control (MAC) address
  of the multicast channel over which all switches in the fabric
  receive ISMP packets.  Except where otherwise noted, this field

  contains the multicast address of the control channel over which
  all switches in the fabric receive ISMP packets -- a value of 01-
  00-1D-00-00-00.

Source address

  Except where otherwise noted, this 6-octet field contains the
  physical (MAC) address of the switch originating the ISMP packet.

Type

  This 2-octet field identifies the type of data carried within the
  frame.  Except where otherwise noted, the type field of ISMP
  packets contains the value 0x81FD.

ISMP Packet Header

There are two versions of the ISMP packet header in use by the SecureFast VLAN product.

Version 2

The version 2 ISMP packet header consists of 6 octets, as shown below:

   0                   1                   2                   3
   0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1
  +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

00 |///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////|

  ://////// Frame header /////////////////////////////////////////:
  +//////// (14 octets)  /////////+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

12 |///////////////////////////////| Version |

  +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

16 | ISMP message type | Sequence number |

  +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

20 | |

  +                                                               +
  :                                                               :

Frame header

  This 14-octet field contains the frame header (Section 6.1.1).

Version

  This 2-octet field contains the version number of the InterSwitch
  Message Protocol to which this ISMP packet adheres. This document
  describes ISMP Version 2.0.

ISMP message type

  This 2-octet field contains a value indicating which type of ISMP
  message is contained within the message body.  The following table
  lists each ISMP message, along with its message type and the
  section within this document that describes the message in detail:

     Message Name                       Type    Description

     Interswitch Link State message        3    See note below
     Interswitch BPDU message              4    Section 6.2
     Interswitch Remote Blocking message   4    Section 6.3
     Interswitch Resolve message           5    Section 6.4
     Interswitch New User message          5    Section 6.5
     Interswitch Tag-Based Flood message   7    Section 6.6
     Interswitch Tap/Untap message         8    Section 6.7

  Note:

     The Link State messages used by the VLS Protocol are not
     described in this document.  For a detailed description of
     these messages, see [IDvlsp].

Sequence number

  This 2-octet field contains an internally generated sequence
  number used by the various protocol handlers for internal
  synchronization of messages.

Version 3

The version 3 ISMP packet header is used only by the Interswitch Keepalive message. That message is not described in this document. For a detailed description of the version 3 ISMP packet header, see [IDhello].

ISMP Message Body

The ISMP message body is a variable-length field containing the actual data of the ISMP message. The length and content of this field are determined by the value found in the message type field.

See the following sections for the exact format of each message type.

Interswitch BPDU Message

The Interswitch BPDU message consists of a variable number of octets, as shown below:

   0                   1                   2                   3
   0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1
  +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

00 | |

  +                         Frame header /                        +
  :                   ISMP packet header (type 4)                 :
  |                                                               |
  +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

20 | Version | Opcode |

  +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

24 | Message flags | |

  +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+                               +

28 | |

  :                          BPDU packet                          :
  |                                                               |
  +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

Frame header/ISMP packet header

  This 20-octet field contains the frame header and the ISMP packet
  header.

Version

  This 2-octet field contains the version number of the message
  type.  This document describes ISMP message type 4, version 1.

Opcode

  This 2-octet field contains the operation type of the message. For
  an Interswitch BPDU message, the value should be 1.

Message flags

  This 2-octet field is currently unused.  It is reserved for future
  use.

BPDU packet

  This variable-length field contains an IEEE-compliant 802.2 Bridge
  Protocol Data Unit.  See [IEEE] for a detailed description of the
  contents of this field.

Interswitch Remote Blocking Message

The Interswitch Remote Blocking message consists of 30 octets, as shown below:

   0                   1                   2                   3
   0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1
  +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

00 | |

  +                         Frame header /                        +
  :                   ISMP packet header (type 4)                 :
  |                                                               |
  +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

20 | Version | Opcode |

  +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

24 | Message flags | Blocking flag ... |

  +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

28 | ... Blocking flag |

  +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

Frame header/ISMP packet header

  This 20-octet field contains the frame header and the ISMP packet
  header.

Version

  This 2-octet field contains the version number of the message
  type.  This document describes ISMP message type 4, version 1.

Opcode

  This 2-octet field contains the operation type of the message.
  Valid values are as follows:

     2   Enable/disable remote blocking
     3   Acknowledge previously received Remote Blocking message

Message flags

     This 2-octet field is currently unused.  It is reserved for
     future use.

Blocking flag

     This 4-octet field contains a flag indicating the state of
     remote blocking on the link over which the message was
     received.  A value of 1 indicates remote blocking is on and no
     undirected ISMP messages should be sent over the link.  A value
     of 0 indicates remote blocking is off.  This flag is irrelevant
     if the operation type (Opcode) of the message has a value of 3.

Interswitch Resolve Message

There are two versions of the Interswitch Resolve message used by the SecureFast VLAN product.

Prior to Version 1.8

The Interswitch Resolve message used by SFVLAN prior to version 1.8 consists of a variable number of octets, as shown below:

    0                   1                   2                   3
    0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1
   +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
00 |                                                               |
   +                         Frame header /                        +
   :                   ISMP packet header (type 5)                 :
   |                                                               |
   +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
20 |           Version             |            Opcode             |
   +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
24 |            Status             |           Call Tag            |
   +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
28 |                                                               |
   +     Source MAC of packet      +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
32 |                               |                               |
   +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+     Originating switch MAC    +
36 |                                                               |
   +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
40 |                                                               |
   +       Owner switch MAC        +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
44 |                               |                               |
   +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+                               +
48 |                                                               |
   :                   Known destination address                   :
   |                                                               |
   +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
 n |     Count     |                                               |
   +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+                                               +

n+4 | Resolve list |

   :                                                               :
   |                                                               |
   +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

      n = 46 + length of known address TLV

In the following description of the message fields, the term "originating" switch refers to the switch that issued the original Interswitch Resolve request. The term "owner" switch refers to that switch to which the destination endstation is attached. And the term "responding" switch refers to either the "owner" switch or to a switch at the end of the switch flood path that does not own the endstation but issues an Interswitch Resolve response because it has no downstream neighbors.

With the exception of the resolve list (which has a different size and format in a Resolve response message), all fields of an Interswitch Resolve message are allocated by the originating switch, and unless otherwise noted below, are written by the originating switch.

Frame header/ISMP packet header

  This 20-octet field contains the frame header and the ISMP packet
  header.

Version

  This 2-octet field contains the version number of the message
  type.  This document describes ISMP message type 5, version 1.

Opcode

  This 2-octet field contains the operation code of the message.
  Valid values are as follows:

     1    The message is a Resolve request.
     2    The message is a Resolve response.
     3    (unused in Resolve messages)
     4    (unused in Resolve messages)

  The originating switch writes a value of 1 to this field, while
  the responding switch writes a value of 2.

Status

  This 2-octet field contains the status of a Resolve response
  message.  Valid values are as follows:

     0    The Resolve request succeeded (ResolveAck).
     1    (unused)
     2    The Resolve request failed (Unknown).

  This field is written by the responding switch.

Call tag

  This 2-octet field contains the call tag of the endstation packet
  for which this Resolve request is issued.  The call tag is a 16-
  bit value (generated by the originating switch) that uniquely
  identifies the packet.

Source MAC of packet

  This 6-octet field contains the physical (MAC) address of the
  endstation that originated the packet identified by the call tag.

Originating switch MAC

  This 6-octet field contains the physical (MAC) address of the
  switch that issued the original Resolve request.

Owner switch MAC

  This 6-octet field contains the physical (MAC) address of the
  switch to which the destination endstation is attached -- that is,
  the switch that was able to resolve the requested addressing
  information.  This field is written by the owner switch.

  If the status of the response is Unknown, this field is
  irrelevant.

Known destination address

  This variable-length field contains the known attribute of the
  destination endstation address.  This address is stored in
  Tag/Length/Value format.  (See Section 2.3.)

Count

  This 1-octet field contains the number of address attributes
  requested or returned.  This is the number of items in the resolve
  list.

Resolve list

  This variable-length field contains a list of the address
  attributes either requested by the originating switch or returned
  by the owner switch.  Note that in a Resolve request message, this
  list contains only the tags of the requested address attributes
  (see Section 2.3).  On the other hand, a Resolve response message
  with a status of ResolveAck contains the full TLV of each resolved
  address attribute.  The number of entries in the list is specified
  in the count field.

  In an Interswitch Resolve response message, this field is
  irrelevant if the status of the response is Unknown.

Version 1.8

The Interswitch Resolve message used by SFVLAN version 1.8 consists of a variable number of octets, as shown below:

   0                   1                   2                   3
   0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1
  +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

00 | |

  +                         Frame header /                        +
  :                   ISMP packet header (type 5)                 :
  |                                                               |
  +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

20 | Version | Opcode |

  +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

24 | Status | Call Tag |

  +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

28 | |

  +     Source MAC of packet      +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

32 | | |

  +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+     Originating switch MAC    +

36 | |

  +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

40 | |

  +       Owner switch MAC        +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

44 | | |

  +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+                               +

48 | |

  :                   Known destination address                   :
  |                                                               |
  +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
n |     Count     |                                               |
  +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+                                               +
 n+4 |                         Resolve list                          |
  :                                                               :
  |                                                               |
  +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

n1 | |

  +    Actual dest switch MAC     +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
  |                               |                               |
  +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+     Downlink chassis MAC      +
n1+8 |                                                               |
  +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

n1+12 | |

  +      Actual chassis MAC       +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
  |                               |                               |
  +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+                               +

n1+20 | |

  +                          Domain name                          +
  :                                                               :
  +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
       n = 46 + length of known address TLV
       n1 = n + length of Resolve list

In the following description of the message fields, the term "originating" switch refers to the switch that issued the original Interswitch Resolve request. The term "owner" switch refers to that switch to which the destination endstation is attached. And the term "responding" switch refers to either the "owner" switch or to a switch at the end of the switch flood path that does not own the endstation but issues an Interswitch Resolve response because it has no downstream neighbors.

With the exception of the resolve list (which has a different size and format in a Resolve response message) and the four fields following the resolve list, all fields of an Interswitch Resolve message are allocated by the originating switch, and unless otherwise noted below, are written by the originating switch.

Frame header/ISMP packet header

  This 20-octet field contains the frame header and the ISMP packet
  header.

Version

  This 2-octet field contains the version number of the message
  type.  This section describes version 3 of the Interswitch Resolve
  message.

Opcode

  This 2-octet field contains the operation code of the message.
  Valid values are as follows:

     1    The message is a Resolve request.
     2    The message is a Resolve response.
     3    (unused in Resolve messages)
     4    (unused in Resolve messages)

  The originating switch writes a value of 1 to this field, while
  the responding switch writes a value of 2.

Status

  This 2-octet field contains the status of a Resolve response
  message.  Valid values are as follows:

     0    The Resolve request succeeded (ResolveAck).
     1    (unused)
     2    The Resolve request failed (Unknown).

  This field is written by the responding switch.

Call tag

  This 2-octet field contains the call tag of the endstation packet
  for which this Resolve request is issued.  The call tag is a 16-
  bit value (generated by the originating switch) that uniquely
  identifies the packet.

Source MAC of packet

  This 6-octet field contains the physical (MAC) address of the
  endstation that originated the packet identified by the call tag.

Originating switch MAC

  This 6-octet field contains the physical (MAC) address of the
  switch that issued the original Resolve request.

Owner switch MAC

  This 6-octet field contains the physical (MAC) address of the
  switch to which the destination endstation is attached -- that is,
  the switch that was able to resolve the requested addressing
  information.  This field is written by the owner switch.

  If the status of the response is Unknown, this field is
  irrelevant.

Known destination address

  This variable-length field contains the known attribute of the
  destination endstation address.  This address is stored in
  Tag/Length/Value format.

Count

  This 1-octet field contains the number of address attributes
  requested or returned.  This is the number of items in the resolve
  list.

Resolve list

  This variable-length field contains a list of the address
  attributes either requested by the originating switch or returned
  by the owner switch.  Note that in a Resolve request message, this
  list contains only the tags of the requested address attributes.
  On the other hand, a Resolve response message with a status of
  ResolveAck contains the full TLV of each resolved address
  attribute.  The number of entries in the list is specified in the
  count field.

  In an Interswitch Resolve response message, this field is
  irrelevant if the status of the response is Unknown.

Actual destination switch MAC

  This 6-octet field contains the physical (MAC) address of the
  actual switch within the chassis to which the endstation is
  attached.  If the status of the response is Unknown, this field is
  irrelevant.

Downlink chassis MAC

  This 6-octet field contains the physical (MAC) address of the
  downlink chassis.  If the status of the response is Unknown, this
  field is irrelevant.

Actual chassis MAC

  This 6-octet field contains the physical (MAC) address of the
  uplink chassis.  If the status of the response is Unknown, this
  field is irrelevant.

Domain name

  This 16-octet field contains the ASCII name of the domain.  If the
  status of the response is Unknown, this field is irrelevant.

Interswitch New User Message

The Interswitch New User message consists of a variable number of octets, as shown below:

   0                   1                   2                   3
   0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1
  +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

00 | |

  +                         Frame header /                        +
  :                   ISMP packet header (type 5)                 :
  |                                                               |
  +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

20 | Version | Opcode |

  +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

24 | Status | Call Tag |

  +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

28 | |

  +     Source MAC of packet      +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

32 | | |

  +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+     Originating switch MAC    +

36 | |

  +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

40 | |

  +   Previous owner switch MAC   +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

44 | | |

  +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+                               +

48 | :

  :                    MAC address of new user                    +
  |                                                               |
  +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

70 | Count | |

  +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+                                               +

74 | Resolve list |

  :                                                               :
  |                                                               |
  +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

In the following description of the message fields, the term "originating" switch refers to the switch that issued the original Interswitch New User request. The term "previous owner" switch refers to that switch to which the endstation was previously attached. And the term "responding" switch refers to either the "previous owner" switch or to a switch at the end of the switch flood path that did not own the endstation but issues an Interswitch New User response because it has no downstream neighbors.

With the exception of the resolve list, all fields of an Interswitch New User message are allocated by the originating switch, and unless otherwise noted below, are written by the originating switch.

Frame header/ISMP packet header

  This 20-octet field contains the frame header and the ISMP packet
  header.

Version

  This 2-octet field contains the version number of the message
  type.  This document describes ISMP message type 5, version 1.

Opcode

  This 2-octet field contains the operation code of the message.
  Valid values are as follows:

     1    (unused in a New User message)
     2    (unused in a New User message)
     3    The message is a New User request.
     4    The message is a New User response.

  The originating switch writes a value of 3 to this field, while
  the responding switch writes a value of 4.

Status

  This 2-octet field contains the status of a New User response
  message.  Valid values are as follows:

     0    VLAN resolution successful (NewUserAck)
     1    (unused)
     2    VLAN resolution unsuccessful (NewUserUnknown)

  This field is written by the responding switch.

Call tag

  This 2-octet field contains the call tag of the endstation packet
  for which this New User request is issued.  The call tag is a 16-
  bit value (generated by the originating switch) that uniquely
  identifies the packet that caused the switch to identify the
  endstation as a new user.

Source MAC of packet

  This 6-octet field contains the physical (MAC) address of the
  endstation that originated the packet identified by the call tag.

Originating switch MAC

  This 6-octet field contains the physical (MAC) address of the
  switch that issued the original New User request.

Previous owner switch MAC

  This 6-octet field contains the physical (MAC) address of the
  switch to which the endstation was previously attached -- that is,
  the switch that was able to resolve the VLAN information. This
  field is written by the previous owner switch.

  If the status of the response is Unknown, this field is
  irrelevant.

MAC address of new user

  This 24-octet field contains the physical (MAC) address of the new
  user endstation, stored in Tag/Length/Value format.

Count

  This 1-octet field contains the number of VLAN identifiers
  returned.  This is the number of items in the resolve list. This
  field is written by the previous owner switch.

  If the status of the response is Unknown, this field and the
  resolve list are irrelevant.

Resolve list

  This variable-length field contains a list of the VLAN identifiers
  of all static VLANs to which the endstation belongs, stored in
  Tag/Length/Value format (see Section 2.3). The number of entries
  in the list is specified in the count field.  This list is written
  by the previous owner switch.

  If the status of the response is Unknown, this field is
  irrelevant.

Interswitch Tag-Based Flood Message

There are two versions of the Interswitch Tag-Based Flood message used by the SecureFast VLAN product.

Prior to Version 1.8

The Interswitch Tag-Based Flood message used by SFVLAN prior to version 1.8 consists of a variable number of octets, as shown below:

   0                   1                   2                   3
   0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1
  +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

00 | |

  +                         Frame header /                        +
  :                   ISMP packet header (type 7)                 :
  |                                                               |
  +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

20 | Version | Opcode |

  +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

24 | Status | Call Tag |

  +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

28 | |

  +     Source MAC of packet      +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

32 | | |

  +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+     Originating switch MAC    +

36 | |

  +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

40 | Count | |

  +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+                                               +

44 | VLAN list |

  :                                                               :
  |                                                               |
  +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
n |                                                               |
  +                                                               +
  :                        Original packet                        :
  +                                                               +
  |                                                               |
  +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

     n = 41 + length of VLAN list

Frame header/ISMP packet header

  This 20-octet field contains the frame header and the ISMP packet
  header.

Version

  This 2-octet field contains the version number of the message
  type.  This document describes ISMP message type 7, version 1.

Opcode

  This 2-octet field contains the operation code of the message. The
  value here should be 1, indicating the message is a flood request.

Status

  This 2-octet field is currently unused.  It is reserved for future
  use.

Call tag

  This 2-octet field contains the call tag of the endstation packet
  encapsulated within this tag-based flood message.  The call tag is
  a 16-bit value (generated by the originating switch) that uniquely
  identifies the packet.

Source MAC of packet

  This 6-octet field contains the physical (MAC) address of the
  endstation that originated the packet identified by the call tag.

Originating switch MAC

  This 6-octet field contains the physical (MAC) address of the
  switch that issued the original tag-based flooded message.

Count

  This 1-octet field contains the number of VLAN identifiers
  included in the VLAN list.

VLAN list

  This variable-length field contains a list of the VLAN identifiers
  of all VLANs to which the source endstation belongs.  Each entry
  in this list has the following format:

   0                   1                   2                   3
   0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1
  +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
  | Value length  |                                               |
  +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+                                               +
  |                        VLAN identifier value                  |
  :                                                               :
  |                                                               |
  +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

  The 1-octet value length field contains the length of the VLAN
  identifier.  VLAN identifiers can be from 1 to 16 characters long.

Original packet

  This variable-length field contains the original packet as sent by
  the source endstation.

Version 1.8

The Interswitch Tag-Based Flood message used by SFVLAN version 1.8 consists of a variable number of octets, as shown below:

  Note:

     SFVLAN version 1.8 also recognizes the Interswitch Tag-Based
     Flood message as described in Section 6.6.1.

   0                   1                   2                   3
   0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1
  +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

00 | |

  +                         Frame header /                        +
  :                   ISMP packet header (type 7)                 :
  |                                                               |
  +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

20 | VLAN identifier | Version |

  +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

24 | Opcode | Status |

  +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

28 | Call tag | |

  +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+     Source MAC of packet      +

32 | |

  +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

36 | |

  +    Originating switch MAC     +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

40 | | Count | |

  +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+               +

44 | |

  :                           VLAN list                           :
  |                                                               |
  +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
n |                                                               |
  +                                                               +
  :                        Original packet                        :
  +                                                               +
  |                                                               |
  +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

        n = 41 + length of VLAN list

Frame header/ISMP packet header

  This 20-octet field contains the frame header and the ISMP packet
  header.

  -  The frame header source address contains a value of 02-00-1D-
     00-xx-yy, where xx-yy is a value set by the VLAN Manager
     application to tag the frame header with the VLAN identifier.
     This value ranges from 2 to 4095.  For example, a value of 100
     would be set as 00-64.

  -  The frame header type field contains a value of 0x81FF.  Note
     that this differs from all other ISMP messages.

VLAN identifier

  This 2-octet field contains the VLAN identifier of the packet
  source.

Version

  This 2-octet field contains the version number of the message
  type.  This section describes version 2 of the Interswitch Tag-
  Based Flood message.

Opcode

  This 2-octet field contains the operation code of the message.
  Valid values here are as follows:

  1  The message is a flood request.  The original packet is
     complete within this message.

  2  The message is a fragmented flood request.  The first portion
     of the original packet is contained in this message.

  3  The message is a fragmented flood request.  The second portion
     of the original packet is contained in this message.

Status

  This 2-octet field is currently unused.  It is reserved for future
  use.

Call tag

  This 2-octet field contains the call tag of the endstation packet
  encapsulated within this tag-based flood message.  The call tag is
  a 16-bit value (generated by the originating switch) that uniquely
  identifies the packet.

Source MAC of packet

  This 6-octet field contains the physical (MAC) address of the
  endstation that originated the packet identified by the call tag.

Originating switch MAC

  This 6-octet field contains the physical (MAC) address of the
  switch that issued the original tag-based flooded message.

Count

  This 1-octet field contains the number of VLAN identifiers
  included in the VLAN list.

VLAN list

  This variable-length field contains a list of the VLAN identifiers
  of all VLANs to which the source endstation belongs.  Each entry
  in this list has the following format:

   0                   1                   2                   3
   0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1
  +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
  | Value length  |                                               |
  +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+                                               +
  |                        VLAN identifier value                  |
  :                                                               :
  |                                                               |
  +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

  The 1-octet value length field contains the length of the VLAN
  identifier.  VLAN identifiers can be from 1 to 16 characters long.

Original packet

  This variable-length field contains the original packet as sent by
  the source endstation.

Interswitch Tap/Untap Message

The Interswitch Tap/Untap message consists of a variable number of octets, as shown below:

   0                   1                   2                   3
   0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1
  +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

00 | |

  +                         Frame header /                        +
  :                   ISMP packet header (type 8)                 :
  |                                                               |
  +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

20 | Version | Opcode |

  +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

24 | Status | Error code |

  +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

28 | Header type | Header length |

  +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

32 | Direction | |

  +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+       Probe switch MAC        +

36 | |

  +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

40 | Probe port |

  +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

44 | |

  +                                                               +

48 | (Reserved) |

  +                                                               +

52 | |

  +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

56 | |

  +                                                               +
  |                             Header                            |
  +                                                               +
  |                                                               |
  +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

Frame header/ISMP packet header

  This 20-octet field contains the frame header and the ISMP packet
  header.

Version

  This 2-octet field contains the version number of the message
  type.  This document describes ISMP message type 8, version 1.

Opcode

  tet field contains the operation type of the message. ues are as
  follows:

     1  The message is a Tap request.
     2  The message is a Tap response.
     3  The message is an Untap request.
     4  The message is an Untap response.

Status

  This 2-octet field contains the current status of the tap request.
  Valid values are as follows:

     1  Switch must disable outport on untap. (DisableOutport)
     2  Switch must keep outports on untap. (KeepOutport)
     3  Probe not found this leg of spanning tree. (ProbeNotFound)
     4  Still searching for probe switch. (OutportDecisionUnknown)
     5  Unassigned. (StatusUnassigned)
     6  (reserved)
     7  (reserved)
     8  (reserved)
     9  (reserved)

  See Section 5.2.3 for details on the use of this field.

Error code

  This 2-octet field contains the response message error code of the
  requested operation.  Valid values are as follows:

     1  Operation successful. (NoError)
     2  No response heard from downstream neighbor. (Timeout)
     3  Port does not exist on probe switch. (BadPort)
     4  Message invalid. (InvalidMessage)
     5  Version number invalid. (IncompatibleVersions)

Header type

  This 2-octet field contains the type of information contained in
  the header field.  Currently, valid values are as follows:

  1  (reserved) 2  Header contains destination and source endstation
     MAC addresses.

Header length

  This 2-octet field contains the length of the header field.
  Currently, this field always contains a value of 12.

Direction

  This 2-octet field contains a value indicating the type of tap.
  Valid values are as follows:

  1  (reserved)
  2  Tap is bi-directional and data should be captured flowing in
     either direction over the connection.
  3  Tap is uni-directional and data should be captured only when it
     flows from the source to the destination.

Probe switch MAC

  This 6-octet field contains the physical (MAC) address of the
  switch to which the probe is attached.

Probe port

  This 4-octet field contains the logical port number (on the probe
  switch) to which the probe is attached.

Reserved

  These 12 octets are reserved.

Header

  This variable-length field contains the header that identifies the
  connection being tapped.  The length of the header is stored in
  the length field.

  Currently, this field is 12 octets long and contains the 6-octet
  physical address of the connection's destination endstation,
  followed by the 6-octet physical address of the connection's
  source endstation, as shown below:

   0                   1                   2                   3
   0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1
  +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
  |                                                               |
  +    Destination MAC address    +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
  |                               |                               |
  +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+      Source MAC address       +
  |                                                               |
  +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

Security Considerations

Requested call connections are established or denied based on the VLAN policy of the source and destination addresses specified within the packet. Section 4.4.1 discusses this process in detail.

References

RFC1700 Reynolds, J. and J. Postel, "Assigned Numbers", STD 2,

           RFC 1700, October 1994.

[IEEE] "IEEE Standard 802.1d -- 1990"

[IDvlsp] Kane, L., "Cabletron's VLS Protocol Specification", RFC

           2642, August 1999.

[IDhello] Hamilton, D. and D. Ruffen, "Cabletron's VlanHello

           Protocol Specification", RFC 2641, August 1999.

Authors' Addresses

Dave Ruffen Cabletron Systems, Inc. Post Office Box 5005 Rochester, NH 03866-5005

Phone: (603) 332-9400 EMail: [email protected]

Ted Len Cabletron Systems, Inc. Post Office Box 5005 Rochester, NH 03866-5005

Phone: (603) 332-9400 EMail: [email protected]

Judy Yanacek Cabletron Systems, Inc. Post Office Box 5005 Rochester, NH 03866-5005

Phone: (603) 332-9400 EMail: [email protected]

10. Full Copyright Statement

This document and translations of it may be copied and furnished to others, and derivative works that comment on or otherwise explain it or assist in its implementation may be prepared, copied, published and distributed, in whole or in part, without restriction of any kind, provided that the above copyright notice and this paragraph are included on all such copies and derivative works. However, this document itself may not be modified in any way, such as by removing the copyright notice or references to the Internet Society or other Internet organizations, except as needed for the purpose of developing Internet standards in which case the procedures for copyrights defined in the Internet Standards process must be followed, or as required to translate it into languages other than English.

The limited permissions granted above are perpetual and will not be revoked by the Internet Society or its successors or assigns.

This document and the information contained herein is provided on an "AS IS" basis and THE INTERNET SOCIETY AND THE INTERNET ENGINEERING TASK FORCE DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO ANY WARRANTY THAT THE USE OF THE INFORMATION HEREIN WILL NOT INFRINGE ANY RIGHTS OR ANY IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.

Acknowledgement

Funding for the RFC Editor function is currently provided by the Internet Society.

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
 Network Working Group                                          D. Ruffen
 Request for Comments: 2643                                        T. Len
@@ Line 10: / Line 4: @@
                                        Cabletron Systems Incorporated
                                                            August 1999
            Cabletron's SecureFast VLAN Operational Model
                            Version 1.8
-Status of this Memo
+'''Status of this Memo'''
 This memo provides information for the Internet community.  It does
@@ Line 21: / Line 14: @@
 memo is unlimited.
-Copyright Notice
+'''Copyright Notice'''
 Copyright (C) The Internet Society (1999).  All Rights Reserved.
-Abstract
+'''Abstract'''
 Cabletron's SecureFast VLAN (SFVLAN) product implements a distributed
@@ Line 32: / Line 25: @@
 virtual LANs (VLANs) to determine the validity of call connection
 requests and to scope the broadcast of certain flooded messages.
+.2.2.1 Creating and Maintaining
+.2.2 Locating the Probe and Establishing
 == Introduction ==
@@ Line 41: / Line 38: @@
 researchers and implementers.
-.1 Data Conventions
+=== Data Conventions ===
 The methods used in this memo to describe and picture data adhere to
-the standards of Internet Protocol documentation [RFC1700].  In
+the standards of Internet Protocol documentation [[RFC1700]].  In
 particular:
@@ Line 61: / Line 58: @@
    in the diagram is the high order or most significant bit.  That
    is, the bit labeled 0 is the most significant bit.
    Similarly, whenever a multi-octet field represents a numeric
@@ Line 81: / Line 64: @@
    most significant octet is transmitted first.
-.2 Definitions of Commonly Used Terms
+=== Definitions of Commonly Used Terms ===
 This section contains a collection of definitions for terms that have
@@ Line 122: / Line 105: @@
    source and destination address pair specified within the packet to
    an inport and outport pair on the switch.
 Call connection path
@@ Line 176: / Line 153: @@
    switch.  ISMP messages with a message type of 5, 7 or 8 are
    undirected messages.
 Switch flood path
@@ Line 229: / Line 201: @@
 of data packets at the MAC layer.
+=== Features ===
+Within a connection-oriented switching network, user traffic is
-.1 Features
-Within a connection-oriented switching network, user traffic is
 routed through the switch fabric based on the source and destination
 address (SA/DA) pair found in the arriving packet. For each SA/DA
@@ Line 284: / Line 250: @@
    advertiser.
+=== VLAN Principles ===
-.2 VLAN Principles
 Each SFVLAN switch port, along with its attached endstations, belongs
@@ Line 300: / Line 262: @@
 messages.
-.2.1 Default, Base and Inherited VLANs
+==== Default, Base and Inherited VLANs ====
 Each port is explicitly assigned to a default VLAN.  At start-up, the
@@ Line 320: / Line 282: @@
        switch fabric behaves like an 802.1D bridging system.
-.2.2 VLAN Configuration Modes
+==== VLAN Configuration Modes ====
 For both ports and endstations, there are a variety of VLAN
 configuration types, or modes.
-.2.2.1 Endstations
+===== Endstations =====
 For endstations, there are two VLAN configuration modes: inherited
@@ Line 334: / Line 296: @@
    An inherited endstation becomes a member of its port's default
    VLAN.
 -  Static
@@ Line 348: / Line 304: @@
 The default configuration mode for an endstation is inherited.
-.2.2.2 Ports
+===== Ports =====
 For ports, there are two VLAN configuration modes:  normal and
@@ Line 377: / Line 333: @@
 The default configuration mode for ports is normal.
-.2.2.3 Order of Precedence
+===== Order of Precedence =====
 On a normal port, static VLAN membership prevails over inherited
@@ Line 389: / Line 345: @@
 preserved.
+==== Ports with Multiple VLAN Membership ====
-.2.3 Ports with Multiple VLAN Membership
 A port can belong to multiple VLANs, based on the VLAN membership of
@@ Line 412: / Line 363: @@
 port.
-.3 Tag/Length/Value Method of Addressing
+=== Tag/Length/Value Method of Addressing ===
 Within most computer networks, the concept of "address" is somewhat
@@ Line 441: / Line 392: @@
    This 4-octet field specifies the type of address contained in the
    structure.  The following address types are currently supported:
        Tag name        Value    Address type
@@ Line 489: / Line 435: @@
    length of this field is stored in the Value length field.
-.4 Architectural Overview
+=== Architectural Overview ===
 The SFVLAN software executes in the switch CPU and consists of the
 following elements as shown in Figure 1:
 -  The SFVLAN base services that handles traffic intercepted by the
@@ Line 544: / Line 484: @@
              +----------------------+
                Switch hardware
                  Figure 1:  SFVLAN Architectural Overview
+-  Eight call processing service centers that provide the essential
--  Eight call processing service centers that provide the essential
    services required to process call connections.  The call
    processing service centers are described in Section 4.
@@ Line 575: / Line 509: @@
 This relationship is shown in Figure 2.  This figure is a replication
 of the bottom portion of Figure 1.
          |    Directory      Resolve                  |
@@ Line 593: / Line 526: @@
                        +----------------------+
                          Switch hardware
                      Figure 2:  Base Services
 During normal operation of the switch, data packets arriving at
@@ Line 638: / Line 561: @@
 which they are called.
-.1 Directory Service Center
+=== Directory Service Center ===
 The Directory Service Center is responsible for cataloging the MAC
@@ Line 650: / Line 573: @@
    (Section 4.3).  Every entry in the Node Table has one or more
    corresponding entries in the Alias Table.
 -  The Alias Table contains protocol alias information for each
@@ Line 679: / Line 594: @@
 all known endstations in the fabric.
-.1.1 Local Add Server
+==== Local Add Server ====
 The Directory Local Add server adds entries to the local Node or
@@ Line 686: / Line 601: @@
 .3.4) server to add an endstation discovered on a remote switch.
-.1.2 Inverse Resolve Server
+==== Inverse Resolve Server ====
 The Directory Inverse Resolve server is invoked when a new
@@ Line 701: / Line 616: @@
 In both instances, the processing is identical.
+When a new endstation is detected on one of the switch's local
+ports, the Inverse Resolve server sends an Interswitch New User
+request message (Section 6.5) over the switch flood path to all
+other switches in the fabric.  The purpose of the Interswitch New
+User request is two-fold:
+-  It informs the other switches of the new endstation address.
+  Any entries for that endstation in the local databases of other
+  switches should be dealt with appropriately.
+-  It requests information about any static VLAN(s) to which the
+   endstation has been assigned.
-When a new endstation is detected on one of the switch's local
-ports, the Inverse Resolve server sends an Interswitch New User
-request message (Section 6.5) over the switch flood path to all
-other switches in the fabric.  The purpose of the Interswitch New
-User request is two-fold:
--  It informs the other switches of the new endstation address.
-  Any entries for that endstation in the local databases of other
-  switches should be dealt with appropriately.
--  It requests information about any static VLAN(s) to which the
-   endstation has been assigned.
 When a switch receives an Interswitch New User request message
@@ Line 756: / Line 660: @@
 it has sent out and does not respond back to its upstream neighbor
 until all requests have been responded to.
 -  As each response is received, the switch checks the status
@@ Line 807: / Line 703: @@
 the Interswitch New User Request message.
+==== Local Delete Server ====
+The Directory Local Delete server removes entries (both local and
+remote) from the local Node and Alias Tables.  It is invoked when
+an endstation, previously known to be attached to one switch, has
+been moved and discovered on another switch.
+Note also that remote entries are cached and are purged from the
-.1.3 Local Delete Server
-The Directory Local Delete server removes entries (both local and
-remote) from the local Node and Alias Tables.  It is invoked when
-an endstation, previously known to be attached to one switch, has
-been moved and discovered on another switch.
-Note also that remote entries are cached and are purged from the
 tables on a first-in/first-out basis as space is needed in the
 cache.
-.2 Topology Service Center
+=== Topology Service Center ===
 The Topology Service Center is responsible for maintaining three
@@ Line 843: / Line 728: @@
    for call connections.
-.2.1 Neighbor Discovery Server
+==== Neighbor Discovery Server ====
 The Topology Neighbor Discovery server uses Interswitch Keepalive
@@ Line 851: / Line 736: @@
 described in detail in [IDhello].
-.2.2 Spanning Tree Server
+==== Spanning Tree Server ====
 The Topology Spanning Tree server is invoked by the Topology
@@ Line 866: / Line 751: @@
 -  Remote blocking
+===== Creating and Maintaining the Spanning Tree =====
-.2.2.1 Creating and Maintaining the Spanning Tree
 In a network with redundant network links, a packet traveling between
@@ Line 905: / Line 785: @@
 See [IEEE] for detailed descriptions of these BPDUs.
-.2.2.2 Remote Blocking
+===== Remote Blocking =====
 After the spanning tree has been computed, each network port on an
@@ Line 912: / Line 792: @@
 -  Forwarding.  A port in the Forwarding state will be used to
    transmit all ISMP messages.
 -  Blocking.  A port in the Blocking state will not be used to
@@ Line 953: / Line 822: @@
 off over the link.
-.2.3 Link State Server
+==== Link State Server ====
 The Topology Link State server is invoked by any process that detects
@@ Line 970: / Line 839: @@
 necessitating potential tear-down of current connections.
+=== Resolve Service Center ===
+The Resolve Service Center is responsible for resolving the
+destination address of broadcast data packets (such as an IP ARP
-.3 Resolve Service Center
-The Resolve Service Center is responsible for resolving the
-destination address of broadcast data packets (such as an IP ARP
 packet) to a unicast MAC address to be used in mapping the call
 connection.  To do this, the Resolve Service Center attempts to
@@ Line 1,021: / Line 883: @@
        mechanism.
+==== Table Server ====
-.3.1 Table Server
 The Resolve Table server maintains the Resolve Table which contains a
@@ Line 1,039: / Line 892: @@
 from the Resolve Table via an external management application.
-.3.2 Local Server
+==== Local Server ====
 The Resolve Local server checks the Node and Alias Tables maintained
@@ Line 1,045: / Line 898: @@
 resolve the address.
-.3.3 Subnet Server
+==== Subnet Server ====
 If the address to be resolved is an IP address but cannot be resolved
@@ Line 1,052: / Line 905: @@
 lookup in the Resolve Table.
-.3.4 Interswitch Resolve Server
+==== Interswitch Resolve Server ====
 If the address cannot be resolved locally, the Interswitch Resolve
@@ Line 1,074: / Line 927: @@
 field to Unknown, and returns the message to its upstream
 (requesting) neighbor.
 When a switch forwards an Interswitch Resolve request message to its
@@ Line 1,104: / Line 949: @@
 containing only the endstation addresses in which it is interested.
-.3.5 Unresolvable Server
+==== Unresolvable Server ====
 The Unresolvable server is called when a packet destination address
@@ Line 1,115: / Line 960: @@
 determine whether the address should be blocked.
-.3.6 Block Server
+==== Block Server ====
 The Resolve Block server is called when a particular destination has
@@ Line 1,128: / Line 973: @@
 reducing the amount of Interswitch Resolve traffic throughout the
 fabric.
 If an address listed in the Block Table is later successfully
@@ Line 1,140: / Line 978: @@
 removed from the table.
-.4 Policy Service Center
+=== Policy Service Center ===
 Once the destination address of the call packet has been resolved,
@@ Line 1,147: / Line 985: @@
 destination VLANs.
-.4.1 Unicast Rules Server
+==== Unicast Rules Server ====
 The Policy Unicast Rules server recognizes two VLAN policy values:
@@ Line 1,177: / Line 1,015: @@
    algorithm is Secure.
+=== Connect Service Center ===
+Once the Policy Service Center (Section 4.4) has determined that a
+requested call connection is valid, the Connect Service Center is
-.5 Connect Service Center
-Once the Policy Service Center (Section 4.4) has determined that a
-requested call connection is valid, the Connect Service Center is
 called to set up the connection.  Note that connectivity between two
 endstations within the fabric is established on a switch-by-switch
@@ Line 1,213: / Line 1,039: @@
 at one time.
-.5.1 Local Server
+==== Local Server ====
 If the destination endstation resides on the local switch, the
@@ Line 1,221: / Line 1,047: @@
 by calling the Filter Service Center (Section 4.6).
-.5.2 Link State Server
+==== Link State Server ====
 The Connect Link State server is called if the destination endstation
@@ Line 1,232: / Line 1,058: @@
 balancing of user traffic across the fabric.
+==== Directory Server ====
-.5.3 Directory Server
 The Connect Directory server is called if the Connect Link State
@@ Line 1,252: / Line 1,068: @@
 that port as the outport of the connection.
-.6 Filter Service Center
+=== Filter Service Center ===
 The Filter Service Center is responsible for establishing filtered
@@ Line 1,265: / Line 1,081: @@
 any traffic for that SA/DA pair.
-.7 Path Service Center
+=== Path Service Center ===
 The Path Service Center is responsible for determining the path from
 a source to a destination.
-.7.1 Link State Server
+==== Link State Server ====
 The Path Link State server is called by the Connect Link State server
@@ Line 1,284: / Line 1,100: @@
 switch.
+==== Spanning Tree Server ====
-.7.2 Spanning Tree Server
 The Path Spanning Tree server is called by any server needing to
@@ Line 1,303: / Line 1,108: @@
 is calculated by the Topology Spanning Tree server (Section 4.2.2).
-.8 Flood Service Center
+=== Flood Service Center ===
 If the Resolve Service Center (Section 4.3) is unable to resolve the
@@ Line 1,309: / Line 1,114: @@
 to broadcast the unresolved packet.
-.8.1 Tag-Based Flood Server
+==== Tag-Based Flood Server ====
 The Tag-Based Flood server encapsulates the unresolved packet into an
@@ Line 1,334: / Line 1,139: @@
 directions along the connection path.
-.1 Definitions
+=== Definitions ===
 In addition to the terms defined in Section 1.2, the following terms
 are used in this description of the call tap process.
+Originating Switch
+   The originating switch is the switch that requests the call tap.
-Originating Switch
-   The originating switch is the switch that requests the call tap.
    Any switch along a call connection path may request a tap on that
    call connection.
@@ Line 1,366: / Line 1,162: @@
    anywhere in the topology.
-.2 Tapping a Connection
+=== Tapping a Connection ===
 A request to tap a call connection between two endstations can
@@ Line 1,375: / Line 1,171: @@
 switch in the topology.
-.2.1 Types of Tap Connections
+==== Types of Tap Connections ====
 A call tap is enabled by setting up an auxiliary tap connection
@@ Line 1,395: / Line 1,191: @@
 -  The existing call connection is modified.
        When both the call path and tap path pass through the switch,
@@ Line 1,421: / Line 1,212: @@
        connection is established for the tap.
-.2.2 Locating the Probe and Establishing the Tap Connection
+==== Locating the Probe and Establishing the Tap Connection ====
 To establish a call tap, the originating switch formats an
@@ Line 1,449: / Line 1,240: @@
    neighbors, it reformats the Tap request message to be a Tap
    response message with a status indicating that the probe is not
    located on that leg of the switch flood path.  It then sends the
@@ Line 1,473: / Line 1,260: @@
    been found and passes the message to its upstream neighbor.
-.2.3 Status Field
+==== Status Field ====
 The status field of the Interswitch Tap request/response message
@@ Line 1,502: / Line 1,289: @@
    switch flood path, and the switch was able to route the tap over
    the existing call path (see Section 5.2.1).  Any ports used for
    the tap will remain enabled when the tap is torn down.
-.3 Untapping a Connection
+=== Untapping a Connection ===
 A request to untap a call connection must be issued on the tap
@@ Line 1,547: / Line 1,330: @@
 neighbor.
+== Interswitch Message Protocol (ISMP) ==
+The InterSwitch Message protocol (ISMP) provides a consistent method
+of encapsulating and transmitting messages exchanged between switches
+to create and maintain the databases and provide other control
+services and functionality required by the SFVLAN product.
+=== General Packet Structure ===
+ISMP packets are of variable length and have the following general
+structure:
+-  Frame header
+-  ISMP packet header
+-  ISMP message body
+Each of these packet segments is discussed separately in the
-== Interswitch Message Protocol (ISMP) ==
-The InterSwitch Message protocol (ISMP) provides a consistent method
-of encapsulating and transmitting messages exchanged between switches
-to create and maintain the databases and provide other control
-services and functionality required by the SFVLAN product.
-.1 General Packet Structure
-ISMP packets are of variable length and have the following general
-structure:
--  Frame header
--  ISMP packet header
--  ISMP message body
-Each of these packet segments is discussed separately in the
 following subsections.
-.1.1 Frame Header
+==== Frame Header ====
 ISMP packets are encapsulated within an IEEE 802-compliant frame
@@ Line 1,598: / Line 1,368: @@
    +                                                              +
    :                                                              :
 Destination address
@@ Line 1,605: / Line 1,374: @@
    of the multicast channel over which all switches in the fabric
    receive ISMP packets.  Except where otherwise noted, this field
    contains the multicast address of the control channel over which
@@ Line 1,628: / Line 1,390: @@
    packets contains the value 0x81FD.
-.1.2 ISMP Packet Header
+==== ISMP Packet Header ====
 There are two versions of the ISMP packet header in use by the
 SecureFast VLAN product.
-.1.2.1 Version 2
+===== Version 2 =====
 The version 2 ISMP packet header consists of 6 octets, as shown
@@ Line 1,656: / Line 1,418: @@
    This 14-octet field contains the frame header (Section 6.1.1).
+Version
+   This 2-octet field contains the version number of the InterSwitch
-Version
-   This 2-octet field contains the version number of the InterSwitch
    Message Protocol to which this ISMP packet adheres. This document
    describes ISMP Version 2.0.
@@ Line 1,701: / Line 1,453: @@
    synchronization of messages.
-.1.2.2 Version 3
+===== Version 3 =====
 The version 3 ISMP packet header is used only by the Interswitch
@@ Line 1,708: / Line 1,460: @@
 [IDhello].
+==== ISMP Message Body ====
-.1.3 ISMP Message Body
 The ISMP message body is a variable-length field containing the
@@ Line 1,727: / Line 1,468: @@
 See the following sections for the exact format of each message type.
-.2 Interswitch BPDU Message
+=== Interswitch BPDU Message ===
 The Interswitch BPDU message consists of a variable number of octets,
@@ Line 1,748: / Line 1,489: @@
    |                                                              |
    +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
 Frame header/ISMP packet header
@@ Line 1,759: / Line 1,499: @@
    This 2-octet field contains the version number of the message
    type.  This document describes ISMP message type 4, version 1.
 Opcode
@@ Line 1,788: / Line 1,516: @@
    contents of this field.
-.3 Interswitch Remote Blocking Message
+=== Interswitch Remote Blocking Message ===
 The Interswitch Remote Blocking message consists of 30 octets, as
@@ Line 1,807: / Line 1,535: @@
 |      ... Blocking flag      |
    +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
 Frame header/ISMP packet header
@@ Line 1,818: / Line 1,545: @@
    This 2-octet field contains the version number of the message
    type.  This document describes ISMP message type 4, version 1.
 Opcode
@@ Line 1,847: / Line 1,568: @@
        if the operation type (Opcode) of the message has a value of 3.
-.4 Interswitch Resolve Message
+=== Interswitch Resolve Message ===
 There are two versions of the Interswitch Resolve message used by the
 SecureFast VLAN product.
-.4.1 Prior to Version 1.8
+==== Prior to Version 1.8 ====
 The Interswitch Resolve message used by SFVLAN prior to version 1.8
 consists of a variable number of octets, as shown below:
                   1                  2                  3
@@ Line 1,922: / Line 1,622: @@
 no downstream neighbors.
+With the exception of the resolve list (which has a different size
+and format in a Resolve response message), all fields of an
+Interswitch Resolve message are allocated by the originating switch,
+and unless otherwise noted below, are written by the originating
+switch.
+Frame header/ISMP packet header
+   This 20-octet field contains the frame header and the ISMP packet
-With the exception of the resolve list (which has a different size
-and format in a Resolve response message), all fields of an
-Interswitch Resolve message are allocated by the originating switch,
-and unless otherwise noted below, are written by the originating
-switch.
-Frame header/ISMP packet header
-   This 20-octet field contains the frame header and the ISMP packet
    header.
@@ Line 1,977: / Line 1,668: @@
    bit value (generated by the originating switch) that uniquely
    identifies the packet.
 Source MAC of packet
@@ Line 2,030: / Line 1,715: @@
    irrelevant if the status of the response is Unknown.
+==== Version 1.8 ====
-.4.2 Version 1.8
 The Interswitch Resolve message used by SFVLAN version 1.8 consists
 of a variable number of octets, as shown below:
+                  1                  2                  3
+1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1
+  +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
+|                                                              |
+  +                        Frame header /                        +
+  :                  ISMP packet header (type 5)                :
+  |                                                              |
+  +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
+|          Version            |            Opcode            |
+  +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
+|            Status            |          Call Tag            |
+  +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
+|                                                              |
+  +    Source MAC of packet      +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
+|                              |                              |
+  +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+    Originating switch MAC    +
+|                                                              |
+  +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
+|                                                              |
+  +      Owner switch MAC        +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
+|                              |                              |
+  +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+                              +
+|                                                              |
+  :                  Known destination address                  :
+  |                                                              |
+  +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
+ n |    Count    |                                              |
+  +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+                                              +
+  n+4 |                        Resolve list                          |
+  :                                                              :
+  |                                                              |
+  +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
+n1 |                                                              |
+  +    Actual dest switch MAC    +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
+  |                              |                              |
+  +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+    Downlink chassis MAC      +
+ n1+8 |                                                              |
+  +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
+n1+12 |                                                              |
+  +      Actual chassis MAC      +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
+  |                              |                              |
+  +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+                              +
+n1+20 |                                                              |
+  +                          Domain name                          +
+  :                                                              :
+  +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
+        n = 46 + length of known address TLV
+        n1 = n + length of Resolve list
+In the following description of the message fields, the term
+"originating" switch refers to the switch that issued the original
+Interswitch Resolve request.  The term "owner" switch refers to that
+switch to which the destination endstation is attached.  And the term
+"responding" switch refers to either the "owner" switch or to a
+switch at the end of the switch flood path that does not own the
+endstation but issues an Interswitch Resolve response because it has
+no downstream neighbors.
+With the exception of the resolve list (which has a different size
+and format in a Resolve response message) and the four fields
+following the resolve list, all fields of an Interswitch Resolve
+message are allocated by the originating switch, and unless otherwise
+noted below, are written by the originating switch.
+Frame header/ISMP packet header
+  This 20-octet field contains the frame header and the ISMP packet
+  header.
+Version
+  This 2-octet field contains the version number of the message
+  type.  This section describes version 3 of the Interswitch Resolve
+  message.
+Opcode
+  This 2-octet field contains the operation code of the message.
+  Valid values are as follows:
+    The message is a Resolve request.
+    The message is a Resolve response.
+    (unused in Resolve messages)
+    (unused in Resolve messages)
+  The originating switch writes a value of 1 to this field, while
+  the responding switch writes a value of 2.
+Status
+  This 2-octet field contains the status of a Resolve response
+  message.  Valid values are as follows:
+    The Resolve request succeeded (ResolveAck).
+    (unused)
+    The Resolve request failed (Unknown).
+  This field is written by the responding switch.
+Call tag
+  This 2-octet field contains the call tag of the endstation packet
+  for which this Resolve request is issued.  The call tag is a 16-
+  bit value (generated by the originating switch) that uniquely
+  identifies the packet.
+Source MAC of packet
+  This 6-octet field contains the physical (MAC) address of the
+  endstation that originated the packet identified by the call tag.
+Originating switch MAC
+  This 6-octet field contains the physical (MAC) address of the
+  switch that issued the original Resolve request.
+Owner switch MAC
+  This 6-octet field contains the physical (MAC) address of the
+  switch to which the destination endstation is attached -- that is,
+  the switch that was able to resolve the requested addressing
+  information.  This field is written by the owner switch.
+  If the status of the response is Unknown, this field is
+  irrelevant.
+Known destination address
+  This variable-length field contains the known attribute of the
+  destination endstation address.  This address is stored in
+  Tag/Length/Value format.
+Count
+  This 1-octet field contains the number of address attributes
+  requested or returned.  This is the number of items in the resolve
+  list.
+Resolve list
+  This variable-length field contains a list of the address
+  attributes either requested by the originating switch or returned
+  by the owner switch.  Note that in a Resolve request message, this
+  list contains only the tags of the requested address attributes.
+  On the other hand, a Resolve response message with a status of
+  ResolveAck contains the full TLV of each resolved address
+  attribute.  The number of entries in the list is specified in the
+  count field.
+  In an Interswitch Resolve response message, this field is
+  irrelevant if the status of the response is Unknown.
+Actual destination switch MAC
+  This 6-octet field contains the physical (MAC) address of the
+  actual switch within the chassis to which the endstation is
+  attached.  If the status of the response is Unknown, this field is
+  irrelevant.
+Downlink chassis MAC
+  This 6-octet field contains the physical (MAC) address of the
+  downlink chassis.  If the status of the response is Unknown, this
+  field is irrelevant.
+Actual chassis MAC
+  This 6-octet field contains the physical (MAC) address of the
+  uplink chassis.  If the status of the response is Unknown, this
+  field is irrelevant.
+Domain name
+  This 16-octet field contains the ASCII name of the domain.  If the
+  status of the response is Unknown, this field is irrelevant.
+=== Interswitch New User Message ===
+The Interswitch New User message consists of a variable number of
+octets, as shown below:
+                  1                  2                  3
+1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1
+  +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
+|                                                              |
+  +                        Frame header /                        +
+  :                  ISMP packet header (type 5)                :
+  |                                                              |
+  +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
+|          Version            |            Opcode            |
+  +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
+|            Status            |          Call Tag            |
+  +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
+|                                                              |
+  +    Source MAC of packet      +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
+|                              |                              |
+  +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+    Originating switch MAC    +
+|                                                              |
+  +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
+|                                                              |
+  +  Previous owner switch MAC  +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
+|                              |                              |
+  +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+                              +
+|                                                              :
+  :                    MAC address of new user                    +
+  |                                                              |
+  +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
+|    Count    |                                              |
+  +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+                                              +
+|                          Resolve list                        |
+  :                                                              :
+  |                                                              |
+  +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
+In the following description of the message fields, the term
+"originating" switch refers to the switch that issued the original
+Interswitch New User request.  The term "previous owner" switch
+refers to that switch to which the endstation was previously
+attached.  And the term "responding" switch refers to either the
+"previous owner" switch or to a switch at the end of the switch flood
+path that did not own the endstation but issues an Interswitch New
+User response because it has no downstream neighbors.
+With the exception of the resolve list, all fields of an Interswitch
+New User message are allocated by the originating switch, and unless
+otherwise noted below, are written by the originating switch.
+Frame header/ISMP packet header
+  This 20-octet field contains the frame header and the ISMP packet
+  header.
+Version
+  This 2-octet field contains the version number of the message
+  type.  This document describes ISMP message type 5, version 1.
+Opcode
+  This 2-octet field contains the operation code of the message.
+  Valid values are as follows:
+    (unused in a New User message)
+    (unused in a New User message)
+    The message is a New User request.
+    The message is a New User response.
+   The originating switch writes a value of 3 to this field, while
+   the responding switch writes a value of 4.
-                  1                  2                  3
-1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1
-  +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
-|                                                              |
-  +                        Frame header /                        +
-  :                  ISMP packet header (type 5)                :
-  |                                                              |
-  +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
-|          Version            |            Opcode            |
-  +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
-|            Status            |          Call Tag            |
-  +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
-|                                                              |
-  +    Source MAC of packet      +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
-|                              |                              |
-  +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+    Originating switch MAC    +
-|                                                              |
-  +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
-|                                                              |
-  +      Owner switch MAC        +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
-|                              |                              |
-  +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+                              +
-|                                                              |
-  :                  Known destination address                  :
-  |                                                              |
-  +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
- n |    Count    |                                              |
-  +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+                                              +
-  n+4 |                        Resolve list                          |
-  :                                                              :
-  |                                                              |
-  +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
-n1 |                                                              |
-  +    Actual dest switch MAC    +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
-  |                              |                              |
-  +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+    Downlink chassis MAC      +
- n1+8 |                                                              |
-  +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
-n1+12 |                                                              |
-  +      Actual chassis MAC      +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
-  |                              |                              |
-  +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+                              +
-n1+20 |                                                              |
-  +                          Domain name                          +
-  :                                                              :
-  +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
-        n = 46 + length of known address TLV
-        n1 = n + length of Resolve list
-In the following description of the message fields, the term
-"originating" switch refers to the switch that issued the original
-Interswitch Resolve request.  The term "owner" switch refers to that
-switch to which the destination endstation is attached.  And the term
-"responding" switch refers to either the "owner" switch or to a
-switch at the end of the switch flood path that does not own the
-endstation but issues an Interswitch Resolve response because it has
-no downstream neighbors.
-With the exception of the resolve list (which has a different size
-and format in a Resolve response message) and the four fields
-following the resolve list, all fields of an Interswitch Resolve
-message are allocated by the originating switch, and unless otherwise
-noted below, are written by the originating switch.
-Frame header/ISMP packet header
-  This 20-octet field contains the frame header and the ISMP packet
-  header.
-Version
-  This 2-octet field contains the version number of the message
-  type.  This section describes version 3 of the Interswitch Resolve
-  message.
-Opcode
-  This 2-octet field contains the operation code of the message.
-  Valid values are as follows:
-    The message is a Resolve request.
-    The message is a Resolve response.
-    (unused in Resolve messages)
-    (unused in Resolve messages)
-   The originating switch writes a value of 1 to this field, while
-   the responding switch writes a value of 2.
 Status
-   This 2-octet field contains the status of a Resolve response
+   This 2-octet field contains the status of a New User response
    message.  Valid values are as follows:
-    The Resolve request succeeded (ResolveAck).
+    VLAN resolution successful (NewUserAck)
     (unused)
-    The Resolve request failed (Unknown).
+    VLAN resolution unsuccessful (NewUserUnknown)
    This field is written by the responding switch.
@@ Line 2,210: / Line 1,984: @@
    This 2-octet field contains the call tag of the endstation packet
-   for which this Resolve request is issued.  The call tag is a 16-
+   for which this New User request is issued.  The call tag is a 16-
    bit value (generated by the originating switch) that uniquely
-   identifies the packet.
+   identifies the packet that caused the switch to identify the
+  endstation as a new user.
 Source MAC of packet
@@ Line 2,222: / Line 1,997: @@
    This 6-octet field contains the physical (MAC) address of the
-   switch that issued the original Resolve request.
+   switch that issued the original New User request.
-Owner switch MAC
+Previous owner switch MAC
    This 6-octet field contains the physical (MAC) address of the
-   switch to which the destination endstation is attached -- that is,
+   switch to which the endstation was previously attached -- that is,
-   the switch that was able to resolve the requested addressing
+   the switch that was able to resolve the VLAN information. This
-  information.  This field is written by the owner switch.
+  field is written by the previous owner switch.
    If the status of the response is Unknown, this field is
    irrelevant.
-Known destination address
+MAC address of new user
-   This variable-length field contains the known attribute of the
+   This 24-octet field contains the physical (MAC) address of the new
-   destination endstation address.  This address is stored in
+   user endstation, stored in Tag/Length/Value format.
-  Tag/Length/Value format.
+Count
+  This 1-octet field contains the number of VLAN identifiers
+  returned.  This is the number of items in the resolve list. This
+  field is written by the previous owner switch.
+  If the status of the response is Unknown, this field and the
+  resolve list are irrelevant.
+Resolve list
+  This variable-length field contains a list of the VLAN identifiers
+  of all static VLANs to which the endstation belongs, stored in
+  Tag/Length/Value format (see Section 2.3). The number of entries
+  in the list is specified in the count field.  This list is written
+  by the previous owner switch.
+  If the status of the response is Unknown, this field is
+  irrelevant.
+=== Interswitch Tag-Based Flood Message ===
+There are two versions of the Interswitch Tag-Based Flood message
+used by the SecureFast VLAN product.
+==== Prior to Version 1.8 ====
-Count
+The Interswitch Tag-Based Flood message used by SFVLAN prior to
+version 1.8 consists of a variable number of octets, as shown below:
-   This 1-octet field contains the number of address attributes
+                  1                  2                  3
-   requested or returned.  This is the number of items in the resolve
+1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1
-   list.
+   +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
+|                                                              |
-Resolve list
+  +                        Frame header /                        +
+  :                  ISMP packet header (type 7)                :
-   This variable-length field contains a list of the address
+   |                                                              |
-   attributes either requested by the originating switch or returned
+   +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
-   by the owner switch.  Note that in a Resolve request message, this
+|          Version            |            Opcode            |
-   list contains only the tags of the requested address attributes.
+  +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
-   On the other hand, a Resolve response message with a status of
+|            Status            |          Call Tag            |
-   ResolveAck contains the full TLV of each resolved address
+   +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
-   attribute.  The number of entries in the list is specified in the
+|                                                              |
-   count field.
+  +    Source MAC of packet      +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
+|                              |                              |
-   In an Interswitch Resolve response message, this field is
+   +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+    Originating switch MAC    +
-   irrelevant if the status of the response is Unknown.
+|                                                              |
+   +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
+|    Count    |                                              |
+   +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+                                              +
+|                          VLAN list                           |
+   :                                                              :
+   |                                                              |
+   +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
+  n |                                                              |
+  +                                                              +
+   :                        Original packet                        :
+  +                                                              +
+   |                                                              |
+   +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
-Actual destination switch MAC
+      n = 41 + length of VLAN list
-  This 6-octet field contains the physical (MAC) address of the
+Frame header/ISMP packet header
-  actual switch within the chassis to which the endstation is
-  attached.  If the status of the response is Unknown, this field is
-  irrelevant.
-Downlink chassis MAC
+  This 20-octet field contains the frame header and the ISMP packet
+  header.
-  This 6-octet field contains the physical (MAC) address of the
+Version
-  downlink chassis.  If the status of the response is Unknown, this
-  field is irrelevant.
-Actual chassis MAC
+  This 2-octet field contains the version number of the message
+  type.  This document describes ISMP message type 7, version 1.
-  This 6-octet field contains the physical (MAC) address of the
+Opcode
-  uplink chassis.  If the status of the response is Unknown, this
-  field is irrelevant.
-Domain name
+  This 2-octet field contains the operation code of the message. The
+  value here should be 1, indicating the message is a flood request.
-  This 16-octet field contains the ASCII name of the domain.  If the
+Status
-  status of the response is Unknown, this field is irrelevant.
+  This 2-octet field is currently unused.  It is reserved for future
+  use.
+Call tag
+  This 2-octet field contains the call tag of the endstation packet
+  encapsulated within this tag-based flood message.  The call tag is
+  a 16-bit value (generated by the originating switch) that uniquely
+  identifies the packet.
+Source MAC of packet
+  This 6-octet field contains the physical (MAC) address of the
+  endstation that originated the packet identified by the call tag.
+Originating switch MAC
+  This 6-octet field contains the physical (MAC) address of the
+  switch that issued the original tag-based flooded message.
+Count
+  This 1-octet field contains the number of VLAN identifiers
+  included in the VLAN list.
-.5 Interswitch New User Message
+VLAN list
-The Interswitch New User message consists of a variable number of
+  This variable-length field contains a list of the VLAN identifiers
-octets, as shown below:
+  of all VLANs to which the source endstation belongs.  Each entry
+  in this list has the following format:
                   1                  2                  3
 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1
    +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
-|                                                              |
+   | Value length  |                                              |
-  +                        Frame header /                        +
+   +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+                                              +
-  :                  ISMP packet header (type 5)                :
+  |                       VLAN identifier value                  |
-   |                                                               |
-  +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
-|          Version            |            Opcode            |
-  +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
-|            Status            |          Call Tag            |
-  +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
-|                                                              |
-  +    Source MAC of packet      +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
-|                              |                              |
-  +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+    Originating switch MAC    +
-|                                                              |
-  +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
-|                                                              |
-  +  Previous owner switch MAC  +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
-|                              |                              |
-  +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+                              +
-|                                                              :
-  :                    MAC address of new user                    +
-  |                                                              |
-  +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
-|    Count    |                                              |
-   +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+                                              +
-|                         Resolve list                        |
    :                                                              :
    |                                                              |
    +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
-In the following description of the message fields, the term
+  The 1-octet value length field contains the length of the VLAN
-"originating" switch refers to the switch that issued the original
+  identifier.  VLAN identifiers can be from 1 to 16 characters long.
-Interswitch New User request.  The term "previous owner" switch
-refers to that switch to which the endstation was previously
-attached.  And the term "responding" switch refers to either the
-"previous owner" switch or to a switch at the end of the switch flood
-path that did not own the endstation but issues an Interswitch New
-User response because it has no downstream neighbors.
+Original packet
+  This variable-length field contains the original packet as sent by
+  the source endstation.
+==== Version 1.8 ====
+The Interswitch Tag-Based Flood message used by SFVLAN version 1.8
+consists of a variable number of octets, as shown below:
+  Note:
+      SFVLAN version 1.8 also recognizes the Interswitch Tag-Based
+      Flood message as described in Section 6.6.1.
-With the exception of the resolve list, all fields of an Interswitch
+                  1                  2                  3
-New User message are allocated by the originating switch, and unless
+1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1
-otherwise noted below, are written by the originating switch.
+  +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
+|                                                              |
-Frame header/ISMP packet header
+  +                        Frame header /                       +
+  :                  ISMP packet header (type 7)                :
-   This 20-octet field contains the frame header and the ISMP packet
+  |                                                              |
-   header.
+   +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
+|      VLAN identifier        |          Version            |
-Version
+  +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
+|          Opcode              |            Status            |
-   This 2-octet field contains the version number of the message
+  +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
-   type.  This document describes ISMP message type 5, version 1.
+|          Call tag            |                              |
+  +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+    Source MAC of packet     +
-Opcode
+|                                                              |
+   +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
+|                                                              |
+  +    Originating switch MAC    +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
+|                              |    Count    |              |
+   +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+              +
+|                                                              |
+  :                          VLAN list                          :
+  |                                                              |
+   +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
+  n |                                                              |
+  +                                                              +
+  :                        Original packet                        :
+  +                                                              +
+  |                                                              |
+  +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
-  This 2-octet field contains the operation code of the message.
+        n = 41 + length of VLAN list
-  Valid values are as follows:
-    (unused in a New User message)
+Frame header/ISMP packet header
-    (unused in a New User message)
-    The message is a New User request.
-    The message is a New User response.
-   The originating switch writes a value of 3 to this field, while
+   This 20-octet field contains the frame header and the ISMP packet
-   the responding switch writes a value of 4.
+   header.
-Status
+  -  The frame header source address contains a value of 02-00-1D-
+-xx-yy, where xx-yy is a value set by the VLAN Manager
+      application to tag the frame header with the VLAN identifier.
+      This value ranges from 2 to 4095.  For example, a value of 100
+      would be set as 00-64.
-   This 2-octet field contains the status of a New User response
+   -  The frame header type field contains a value of 0x81FF.  Note
-  message.  Valid values are as follows:
+      that this differs from all other ISMP messages.
-    VLAN resolution successful (NewUserAck)
+VLAN identifier
-    (unused)
-    VLAN resolution unsuccessful (NewUserUnknown)
-   This field is written by the responding switch.
+   This 2-octet field contains the VLAN identifier of the packet
+  source.
-Call tag
+Version
-   This 2-octet field contains the call tag of the endstation packet
+   This 2-octet field contains the version number of the message
-   for which this New User request is issued.  The call tag is a 16-
+   type.  This section describes version 2 of the Interswitch Tag-
-   bit value (generated by the originating switch) that uniquely
+   Based Flood message.
-  identifies the packet that caused the switch to identify the
-  endstation as a new user.
+Opcode
+  This 2-octet field contains the operation code of the message.
+  Valid values here are as follows:
+  The message is a flood request.  The original packet is
+      complete within this message.
+  The message is a fragmented flood request.  The first portion
+      of the original packet is contained in this message.
+  The message is a fragmented flood request.  The second portion
+      of the original packet is contained in this message.
+Status
+  This 2-octet field is currently unused.  It is reserved for future
+  use.
-Source MAC of packet
+Call tag
+  This 2-octet field contains the call tag of the endstation packet
+  encapsulated within this tag-based flood message.  The call tag is
+  a 16-bit value (generated by the originating switch) that uniquely
+  identifies the packet.
+Source MAC of packet
    This 6-octet field contains the physical (MAC) address of the
@@ Line 2,416: / Line 2,245: @@
    This 6-octet field contains the physical (MAC) address of the
-   switch that issued the original New User request.
+   switch that issued the original tag-based flooded message.
-Previous owner switch MAC
-  This 6-octet field contains the physical (MAC) address of the
-  switch to which the endstation was previously attached -- that is,
-  the switch that was able to resolve the VLAN information. This
-  field is written by the previous owner switch.
-  If the status of the response is Unknown, this field is
-  irrelevant.
-MAC address of new user
-  This 24-octet field contains the physical (MAC) address of the new
-  user endstation, stored in Tag/Length/Value format.
 Count
    This 1-octet field contains the number of VLAN identifiers
-   returned.  This is the number of items in the resolve list. This
+   included in the VLAN list.
-  field is written by the previous owner switch.
-  If the status of the response is Unknown, this field and the
+VLAN list
-  resolve list are irrelevant.
-Resolve list
    This variable-length field contains a list of the VLAN identifiers
-   of all static VLANs to which the endstation belongs, stored in
+   of all VLANs to which the source endstation belongs.  Each entry
-  Tag/Length/Value format (see Section 2.3). The number of entries
+   in this list has the following format:
-   in the list is specified in the count field.  This list is written
-  by the previous owner switch.
-   If the status of the response is Unknown, this field is
+                  1                  2                  3
-   irrelevant.
+1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1
+  +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
+  | Value length  |                                              |
+  +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+                                              +
+  |                        VLAN identifier value                  |
+  :                                                              :
+   |                                                              |
+   +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
+  The 1-octet value length field contains the length of the VLAN
+  identifier.  VLAN identifiers can be from 1 to 16 characters long.
+Original packet
+  This variable-length field contains the original packet as sent by
+  the source endstation.
+=== Interswitch Tap/Untap Message ===
+The Interswitch Tap/Untap message consists of a variable number of
+octets, as shown below:
-.6 Interswitch Tag-Based Flood Message
-There are two versions of the Interswitch Tag-Based Flood message
-used by the SecureFast VLAN product.
-.6.1 Prior to Version 1.8
-The Interswitch Tag-Based Flood message used by SFVLAN prior to
-version 1.8 consists of a variable number of octets, as shown below:
                   1                  2                  3
@@ Line 2,476: / Line 2,286: @@
 |                                                              |
    +                        Frame header /                        +
-   :                  ISMP packet header (type 7)                :
+   :                  ISMP packet header (type 8)                :
    |                                                              |
    +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
-|           Version             |            Opcode            |
+|           Version           |            Opcode            |
+  +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
+|            Status            |          Error code          |
    +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
-|           Status            |           Call Tag            |
+|           Header type        |         Header length        |
    +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
-|                                                              |
+|           Direction          |                              |
-  +    Source MAC of packet      +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
+   +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+       Probe switch MAC       +
-|                               |                              |
-   +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+     Originating switch MAC   +
 |                                                              |
    +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
-|     Count    |                                              |
+|                           Probe port                          |
-   +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+                                               +
+   +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
-|                          VLAN list                          |
+|                                                              |
-   :                                                               :
+  +                                                              +
-  |                                                              |
+|                          (Reserved)                          |
+   +                                                               +
+|                                                              |
    +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
- n |                                                              |
+|                                                              |
    +                                                              +
-   :                        Original packet                        :
+   |                            Header                            |
    +                                                              +
    |                                                              |
    +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
-      n = 41 + length of VLAN list
+Frame header/ISMP packet header
+  This 20-octet field contains the frame header and the ISMP packet
+  header.
+Version
+  This 2-octet field contains the version number of the message
+  type.  This document describes ISMP message type 8, version 1.
+Opcode
+  tet field contains the operation type of the message. ues are as
+  follows:
+  The message is a Tap request.
+  The message is a Tap response.
+  The message is an Untap request.
+  The message is an Untap response.
+Status
+  This 2-octet field contains the current status of the tap request.
+  Valid values are as follows:
+  Switch must disable outport on untap. (DisableOutport)
+  Switch must keep outports on untap. (KeepOutport)
+  Probe not found this leg of spanning tree. (ProbeNotFound)
+  Still searching for probe switch. (OutportDecisionUnknown)
+  Unassigned. (StatusUnassigned)
+  (reserved)
+  (reserved)
+  (reserved)
+  (reserved)
+  See Section 5.2.3 for details on the use of this field.
-Frame header/ISMP packet header
+Error code
-   This 20-octet field contains the frame header and the ISMP packet
+   This 2-octet field contains the response message error code of the
-   header.
+   requested operation.  Valid values are as follows:
-Version
+  Operation successful. (NoError)
+  No response heard from downstream neighbor. (Timeout)
+  Port does not exist on probe switch. (BadPort)
+  Message invalid. (InvalidMessage)
+  Version number invalid. (IncompatibleVersions)
-  This 2-octet field contains the version number of the message
+Header type
-  type.  This document describes ISMP message type 7, version 1.
-Opcode
+  This 2-octet field contains the type of information contained in
+  the header field.  Currently, valid values are as follows:
-   This 2-octet field contains the operation code of the message. The
+  (reserved) 2  Header contains destination and source endstation
-  value here should be 1, indicating the message is a flood request.
+      MAC addresses.
-Status
+Header length
-   This 2-octet field is currently unused.  It is reserved for future
+   This 2-octet field contains the length of the header field.
-   use.
+   Currently, this field always contains a value of 12.
-Call tag
+Direction
-   This 2-octet field contains the call tag of the endstation packet
+   This 2-octet field contains a value indicating the type of tap.
-  encapsulated within this tag-based flood message.  The call tag is
+   Valid values are as follows:
-  a 16-bit value (generated by the originating switch) that uniquely
-   identifies the packet.
-Source MAC of packet
+  (reserved)
+  Tap is bi-directional and data should be captured flowing in
+      either direction over the connection.
+  Tap is uni-directional and data should be captured only when it
+      flows from the source to the destination.
-  This 6-octet field contains the physical (MAC) address of the
+Probe switch MAC
-  endstation that originated the packet identified by the call tag.
-Originating switch MAC
    This 6-octet field contains the physical (MAC) address of the
-   switch that issued the original tag-based flooded message.
+   switch to which the probe is attached.
-Count
+Probe port
-   This 1-octet field contains the number of VLAN identifiers
+   This 4-octet field contains the logical port number (on the probe
-  included in the VLAN list.
+   switch) to which the probe is attached.
-VLAN list
-   This variable-length field contains a list of the VLAN identifiers
-  of all VLANs to which the source endstation belongs.  Each entry
-  in this list has the following format:
+Reserved
+  These 12 octets are reserved.
+Header
+  This variable-length field contains the header that identifies the
+  connection being tapped.  The length of the header is stored in
+  the length field.
+  Currently, this field is 12 octets long and contains the 6-octet
+  physical address of the connection's destination endstation,
+  followed by the 6-octet physical address of the connection's
+  source endstation, as shown below:
                   1                  2                  3
 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1
    +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
-   | Value length  |                                              |
+   |                                                               |
-   +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+                                               +
+   +    Destination MAC address    +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
-   |                       VLAN identifier value                  |
+   |                               |                              |
-   :                                                              :
+   +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+      Source MAC address      +
    |                                                              |
    +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
-  The 1-octet value length field contains the length of the VLAN
+== Security Considerations ==
-  identifier.  VLAN identifiers can be from 1 to 16 characters long.
-Original packet
+Requested call connections are established or denied based on the
+VLAN policy of the source and destination addresses specified within
+the packet.  Section 4.4.1 discusses this process in detail.
-  This variable-length field contains the original packet as sent by
+== References ==
-  the source endstation.
-.6.2 Version 1.8
-The Interswitch Tag-Based Flood message used by SFVLAN version 1.8
-consists of a variable number of octets, as shown below:
-  Note:
-      SFVLAN version 1.8 also recognizes the Interswitch Tag-Based
-      Flood message as described in Section 6.6.1.
-                  1                  2                  3
-1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1
-  +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
-|                                                              |
-  +                        Frame header /                        +
-  :                  ISMP packet header (type 7)                :
-  |                                                              |
-  +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
-|      VLAN identifier        |          Version            |
-  +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
-|          Opcode              |            Status            |
-  +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
-|          Call tag            |                              |
-  +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+    Source MAC of packet      +
-|                                                              |
-  +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
-|                                                              |
-  +    Originating switch MAC    +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
-|                              |    Count    |              |
-  +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+              +
-|                                                              |
-  :                          VLAN list                          :
-  |                                                              |
-  +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
- n |                                                              |
-  +                                                              +
-  :                        Original packet                        :
-  +                                                              +
-  |                                                              |
-  +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
-        n = 41 + length of VLAN list
-Frame header/ISMP packet header
-  This 20-octet field contains the frame header and the ISMP packet
-  header.
-  -  The frame header source address contains a value of 02-00-1D-
--xx-yy, where xx-yy is a value set by the VLAN Manager
-      application to tag the frame header with the VLAN identifier.
-      This value ranges from 2 to 4095.  For example, a value of 100
-      would be set as 00-64.
-  -  The frame header type field contains a value of 0x81FF.  Note
-      that this differs from all other ISMP messages.
-VLAN identifier
-  This 2-octet field contains the VLAN identifier of the packet
-  source.
-Version
-  This 2-octet field contains the version number of the message
-  type.  This section describes version 2 of the Interswitch Tag-
-  Based Flood message.
-Opcode
-  This 2-octet field contains the operation code of the message.
-  Valid values here are as follows:
-  The message is a flood request.  The original packet is
-      complete within this message.
-  The message is a fragmented flood request.  The first portion
-      of the original packet is contained in this message.
-  The message is a fragmented flood request.  The second portion
-      of the original packet is contained in this message.
-Status
-  This 2-octet field is currently unused.  It is reserved for future
-  use.
-Call tag
-  This 2-octet field contains the call tag of the endstation packet
-  encapsulated within this tag-based flood message.  The call tag is
-  a 16-bit value (generated by the originating switch) that uniquely
-  identifies the packet.
-Source MAC of packet
-  This 6-octet field contains the physical (MAC) address of the
-  endstation that originated the packet identified by the call tag.
-Originating switch MAC
-  This 6-octet field contains the physical (MAC) address of the
-  switch that issued the original tag-based flooded message.
-Count
-  This 1-octet field contains the number of VLAN identifiers
-  included in the VLAN list.
-VLAN list
-  This variable-length field contains a list of the VLAN identifiers
-  of all VLANs to which the source endstation belongs.  Each entry
-  in this list has the following format:
-                  1                  2                  3
-1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1
-  +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
-  | Value length  |                                              |
-  +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+                                              +
-  |                        VLAN identifier value                  |
-  :                                                              :
-  |                                                              |
-  +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
-  The 1-octet value length field contains the length of the VLAN
-  identifier.  VLAN identifiers can be from 1 to 16 characters long.
-Original packet
-  This variable-length field contains the original packet as sent by
-  the source endstation.
-.7 Interswitch Tap/Untap Message
-The Interswitch Tap/Untap message consists of a variable number of
-octets, as shown below:
-                  1                  2                  3
-1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1
-  +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
-|                                                              |
-  +                        Frame header /                        +
-  :                  ISMP packet header (type 8)                :
-  |                                                              |
-  +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
-|            Version            |            Opcode            |
-  +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
-|            Status            |          Error code          |
-  +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
-|          Header type        |        Header length        |
-  +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
-|            Direction          |                              |
-  +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+      Probe switch MAC        +
-|                                                              |
-  +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
-|                          Probe port                          |
-  +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
-|                                                              |
-  +                                                              +
-|                          (Reserved)                          |
-  +                                                              +
-|                                                              |
-  +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
-|                                                              |
-  +                                                              +
-  |                            Header                            |
-  +                                                              +
-  |                                                              |
-  +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
-Frame header/ISMP packet header
-  This 20-octet field contains the frame header and the ISMP packet
-  header.
-Version
-  This 2-octet field contains the version number of the message
-  type.  This document describes ISMP message type 8, version 1.
-Opcode
-  tet field contains the operation type of the message. ues are as
-  follows:
-  The message is a Tap request.
-  The message is a Tap response.
-  The message is an Untap request.
-  The message is an Untap response.
-Status
-  This 2-octet field contains the current status of the tap request.
-  Valid values are as follows:
-  Switch must disable outport on untap. (DisableOutport)
-  Switch must keep outports on untap. (KeepOutport)
-  Probe not found this leg of spanning tree. (ProbeNotFound)
-  Still searching for probe switch. (OutportDecisionUnknown)
-  Unassigned. (StatusUnassigned)
-  (reserved)
-  (reserved)
-  (reserved)
-  (reserved)
-  See Section 5.2.3 for details on the use of this field.
-Error code
-  This 2-octet field contains the response message error code of the
-  requested operation.  Valid values are as follows:
-  Operation successful. (NoError)
-  No response heard from downstream neighbor. (Timeout)
-  Port does not exist on probe switch. (BadPort)
-  Message invalid. (InvalidMessage)
-  Version number invalid. (IncompatibleVersions)
-Header type
-  This 2-octet field contains the type of information contained in
-  the header field.  Currently, valid values are as follows:
-  (reserved) 2  Header contains destination and source endstation
-      MAC addresses.
-Header length
-  This 2-octet field contains the length of the header field.
-  Currently, this field always contains a value of 12.
-Direction
-  This 2-octet field contains a value indicating the type of tap.
-  Valid values are as follows:
-  (reserved)
-  Tap is bi-directional and data should be captured flowing in
-      either direction over the connection.
-  Tap is uni-directional and data should be captured only when it
-      flows from the source to the destination.
-Probe switch MAC
-  This 6-octet field contains the physical (MAC) address of the
-  switch to which the probe is attached.
-Probe port
-  This 4-octet field contains the logical port number (on the probe
-  switch) to which the probe is attached.
-Reserved
-  These 12 octets are reserved.
-Header
-  This variable-length field contains the header that identifies the
-  connection being tapped.  The length of the header is stored in
-  the length field.
-  Currently, this field is 12 octets long and contains the 6-octet
-  physical address of the connection's destination endstation,
-  followed by the 6-octet physical address of the connection's
-  source endstation, as shown below:
-                  1                  2                  3
-1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1
-  +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
-  |                                                              |
-  +    Destination MAC address    +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
-  |                              |                              |
-  +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+      Source MAC address      +
-  |                                                              |
-  +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
-== Security Considerations ==
-Requested call connections are established or denied based on the
+[[RFC1700]]  Reynolds, J. and J. Postel, "Assigned Numbers", [[STD2|STD 2]],
-VLAN policy of the source and destination addresses specified within
+            [[RFC1700|RFC 1700]], October 1994.
-the packet.  Section 4.4.1 discusses this process in detail.
-== References ==
-[RFC1700]  Reynolds, J. and J. Postel, "Assigned Numbers", STD 2,            [[RFC1700|RFC 1700]], October 1994.
 [IEEE]      "IEEE Standard 802.1d -- 1990"
-[IDvlsp]    Kane, L., "Cabletron's VLS Protocol Specification", RFC            2642, August 1999.
-[IDhello]  Hamilton, D. and D. Ruffen, "Cabletron's VlanHello            Protocol Specification", [[RFC2641|RFC 2641]], August 1999.
+[IDvlsp]    Kane, L., "Cabletron's VLS Protocol Specification", RFC
+, August 1999.
+[IDhello]  Hamilton, D. and D. Ruffen, "Cabletron's VlanHello
+            Protocol Specification", [[RFC2641|RFC 2641]], August 1999.
 == Authors' Addresses ==
@@ Line 2,993: / Line 2,449: @@
 Phone: (603) 332-9400
 EMail: [email protected]
 Ted Len
@@ Line 3,002: / Line 2,457: @@
 Phone: (603) 332-9400
 EMail:  [email protected]
 Judy Yanacek
@@ Line 3,012: / Line 2,466: @@
 EMail:  [email protected]
+.  Full Copyright Statement
-== Full Copyright Statement ==
 Copyright (C) The Internet Society (1999).  All Rights Reserved.
@@ Line 3,069: / Line 2,498: @@
 Funding for the RFC Editor function is currently provided by the
 Internet Society.
 [[Category:Informational]]

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Difference between revisions of "RFC2643"

Latest revision as of 01:29, 20 October 2020

Contents

Introduction

Data Conventions

Definitions of Commonly Used Terms

SFVLAN Overview

Features

VLAN Principles

Default, Base and Inherited VLANs

VLAN Configuration Modes

Endstations

Ports

Order of Precedence

Ports with Multiple VLAN Membership

Tag/Length/Value Method of Addressing

Architectural Overview

Base Services

Call Processing

Directory Service Center

Local Add Server

Inverse Resolve Server

Local Delete Server

Topology Service Center

Neighbor Discovery Server

Spanning Tree Server

Creating and Maintaining the Spanning Tree

Remote Blocking

Link State Server

Resolve Service Center

Table Server

Local Server

Subnet Server

Interswitch Resolve Server

Unresolvable Server

Block Server

Policy Service Center

Unicast Rules Server

Connect Service Center

Local Server

Link State Server

Directory Server

Filter Service Center

Path Service Center

Link State Server

Spanning Tree Server

Flood Service Center

Tag-Based Flood Server

Monitoring Call Connections

Definitions

Tapping a Connection

Types of Tap Connections

Locating the Probe and Establishing the Tap Connection

Status Field

Untapping a Connection

Interswitch Message Protocol (ISMP)

General Packet Structure

Frame Header

ISMP Packet Header

Version 2

Version 3

ISMP Message Body

Interswitch BPDU Message

Interswitch Remote Blocking Message

Interswitch Resolve Message

Prior to Version 1.8

Version 1.8

Interswitch New User Message

Interswitch Tag-Based Flood Message

Prior to Version 1.8

Version 1.8

Interswitch Tap/Untap Message

Security Considerations

References

Authors' Addresses

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