Network Working Group                                           D. Hamilton
Request for Comments: 2641                                        D. Ruffen
Category: Informational                      Cabletron Systems Incorporated
                                                               August 1999


             Cabletron's VlanHello Protocol Specification
                              Version 4

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

  Copyright (C) The Internet Society (1999).  All Rights Reserved.

Abstract

  The VlanHello protocol is part of the InterSwitch Message Protocol
  (ISMP) which provides interswitch communication between switches
  running Cabletron's SecureFast VLAN (SFVLAN) product.  Switches use
  the VlanHello protocol to discover their neighboring switches and
  establish the topology of the switch fabric.

Table of Contents

  1. Introduction......................................  2
     1.1 Data Conventions..............................  2
  2. VlanHello Protocol Operational Overview...........  2
     2.1 Neighbor Discovery............................  2
     2.2 Port States...................................  3
     2.3 Topology Events...............................  5
     2.4 Timers........................................  9
  3. InterSwitch Message Protocol......................  9
     3.1 Frame Header.................................. 10
     3.2 ISMP Packet Header............................ 11
     3.3 ISMP Message Body............................. 12
  4. Interswitch Keepalive Message..................... 13
  5. Security Considerations........................... 16
  6. References........................................ 16
  7. Authors' Addresses................................ 16
  8. Full Copyright Statement.......................... 17






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RFC 2641       Cabletron's VlanHello Protocol Version 4      August 1999


1. 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.

1.1 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.

2. VlanHello Protocol Operational Overview

  Switches use the VlanHello protocol to detect their neighboring
  switches and establish the topology of the switch fabric.

2.1 Neighbor Discovery

  At initialization, each switch sends an Interswitch Keepalive message
  out all local ports except those which have been preconfigured such
  that they cannot be Network ports (see Section 2.2).  Then, as each
  switch discovers its neighboring switches via incoming Interswitch
  Keepalive messages, it notifies its local topology services (see
  Section 2.3), which then build the topology tables for the switching
  fabric.



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RFC 2641       Cabletron's VlanHello Protocol Version 4      August 1999


  Each switch continues to send Interswitch Keepalive messages at
  regular intervals (currently 5 seconds).  If a switch has not heard
  from one of its neighbors for some predetermined interval (see
  Section 2.4), notification is sent to all interested services and the
  neighboring switch is removed from the topology table.

  Interswitch Keepalive messages are described in Section 4.

2.2 Port States

  Each port on a switch can be in one of several different states.
  These states are listed below.  Figure 1 shows how the port state
  changes within the VlanHello protocol.

  o  Unknown.  This is the default state of all ports at
     initialization.

  o  Network.  A port is deemed a Network port when the switch has
     received an Interswitch Keepalive message over the port from one
     of its neighbor switches.  A transition to this state triggers a
     Neighbor Found event, notifying the local topology servers that
     the interface is functioning and a 2-way conversation has been
     established with the neighbor.

     When the last switch is lost on a Network port, the state of the
     switch reverts to either Network Only (see next state) or to
     Unknown, and a Neighbor Lost event is triggered, notifying the
     local topology servers that the interface is no longer
     operational.

  o  Network Only.  Certain types of port interfaces are incapable of
     accessing user endstations and can only be used to access other
     switches.  Such ports are deemed Network Only ports.  If the last
     switch is lost from a port that has already been deemed a Network
     port, the VlanHello protocol checks the condition of the port
     interface.  If it is the type of interface that can only be used
     to access other switches, the state of the port is set to Network
     Only.  Otherwise, it reverts to Unknown.

  o  Standby.  A port is deemed a Standby port under the following
     conditions:










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RFC 2641       Cabletron's VlanHello Protocol Version 4      August 1999


     o  The neighbor switch on the port has a higher level of
        functionality and it has determined that the local switch is
        incompatible with that functionality.  In this circumstance,
        the MAC entry for the local switch in the Interswitch Keepalive
        message received from the neighbor contains an assigned status
        of Incompatible.

     o  The list of MAC entries in the Interswitch Keepalive message
        received from the neighbor switch does not contain an entry for
        the local switch.  In this circumstance, the local switch
        assumes that communication with its neighbor will be one-way
        only.

     The VlanHello protocol continues to listen for Interswitch
     Keepalive messages on a Standby port, but does not transmit any
     Interswitch Keepalive messages over the port.  If a message is
     received that removes the condition under which the port state was
     set to Standby, the state of the port is set to Network.

  o  Going to Access.  When any packet other than an Interswitch
     Keepalive message is received over an Unknown port, the state of
     the port is changed to Going to Access and a timer is activated.
     If the timer expires without an Interswitch Keepalive message
     being received over the port, the port state changes to Access.

  o  Access.  A port is deemed an Access port when any packet other
     than an Interswitch Keepalive message has been received over the
     port and the Going to Access timer has expired.  A port can also
     be administratively designated an Access "control" port, meaning
     the port is to remain an Access port, regardless of the type of
     messages that are received on it.  Interswitch Keepalive messages
     are not sent over Access control ports.

  Three other types of ports are recognized:  the host management port,
  host data port, and host control port. These ports are designated at
  initialization and are used to access the host CPU.  Interswitch
  Keepalive messages are not sent over these ports.














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RFC 2641       Cabletron's VlanHello Protocol Version 4      August 1999


                                Packet in
                                    |
                                    V
                               +---------+
               Packet in       | Unknown |
                   |           +---------+
       G-A         V                |
      Timer  +----------+   no      V
       exp   | Going to |<------[KA msg?]           Packet in
      <------|  Access  |           |                   |
      |      +----------+       yes |                   V
      V             |               V     yes      +---------+
  +--------+        V            [1-way?]------+-->| Standby |
  | Access |    [KA msg?]           |          ^   +---------+
  +--------+        |               | no       |        |
                    |               V       no |        V
                yes |         [compatible?]----+    [KA msg?]
                    |               |                   |
                    |               | yes               | yes
                    |               V                   V
                    V          +---------+           [1-way?]
                    +--------->| Network |<--+          |
                               +---------+   ^          | no
                                    |        | yes      V
                          lost last |        +<----[compatible?]
                           neighbor |
                                    V
                                [network]
                                [ only? ]
                                    |
        +--------------+     yes    |    no      +---------+
        | Network Only |<-----------+----------->| Unknown |
        +--------------+                         +---------+


                    Figure 1:  Port State Machine

2.3 Topology Events

  When the VlanHello protocol discovers new information about the
  status of one of its network ports, it notifies its local topology
  service center so that the service center can build or modify the
  topology tables for the switch fabric.  This notification takes the
  form of a system event, described in a structure known as a topology
  relay structure.  These structures are linked in a first-in/first-out
  (FIFO) queue and processed by the topology servers in the order in
  which they were received.




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RFC 2641       Cabletron's VlanHello Protocol Version 4      August 1999


  A topology relay structure typically contains information from
  Interswitch Keepalive messages received on the specified port, 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 |                             Event                             |
     +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
  04 |                       Delta options mask                      |
     +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
  08 |                      Current options mask                     |
     +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
  12 |                          Port number                          |
     +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
  16 |                                                               |
     +                Port neighbor switch identifier                +
     |                                                               |
     +                               +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
     |                               |  Port neighbor IP address ... |
     +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
  28 | ... Port neighbor IP address  |                               |
     +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+   Neighbor chassis MAC addr   +
  32 |                                                               |
     +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
  36 |                   Neighbor chassis IP address                 |
     +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
  40 |                    Neighbor functional level                  |
     +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
  44 |                         Topology agent                        |
     +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
  48 |                           Next event                          |
     +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

     Event

        This 4-octet field contains the number of the event.
        Valid values are as follows:

           1   A new neighbor switch was discovered on the
               specified port.
           2   The neighbor switch has gained the feature(s)
               specified in the Delta options mask.
           3   The neighbor switch has lost the feature(s)
               specified in the Delta options mask.
           4   The neighbor switch has timed out and is presumed
               down.
           5   The specified port is down.



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RFC 2641       Cabletron's VlanHello Protocol Version 4      August 1999


           6   The neighbor switch has been previously seen on a
               different port.  The specified port is the
               previous port.
           7   The specified port is being reassigned to another
               topology agent.  Event is generated by the current
               (old) agent.
           8   The port is looped -- that is, the Keepalive
               message was generated by the receiving switch.
           9   The port is crossed -- that is, a Keepalive message
               was received on a port not owned by this topology
               agent.
           10  The neighbor switch's functional level has changed.
           11  The neighbor switch is running an incompatible
               version of the protocol.
           12  Two-way communication with the neighbor switch has
               been lost.
           13  The neighbor switch's Keepalive message sequence
               number has been reset, indicating the switch
               itself has been reset.

  Delta options mask

     This 4-octet field contains a bit map specifying the feature(s)
     gained or lost by the neighbor switch (events 2 and 3 only).
     Valid values are as specified for the next field, Current options
     mask.

  Current options mask

     This 4-octet field contains a bit map specifying the features of
     the neighbor switch.  Bit assignments are as follows:

        1       (unused)
        2       The switch is a VLAN switch.
        4       The switch has link state capability.
        8       The switch has loop-free flood path capability.
        16      The switch has resolve capability.
        32      (unused)
        64      The switch has tag-based flood capability.
        128     The switch has tap capability.
        256     The switch has message connection capability.
        512     The switch has redundant access capability.
        1024    The switch is an isolated switch.
        4096    The switch is an uplink. (SFVLAN V1.8 only)
        8192    The switch is an uplink to core. (SFVLAN V1.8 only)
        16384   The port is an uplink port. (SFVLAN V1.8 only)
        32768   The port is an uplink flood port. (SFVLAN V1.8 only)




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RFC 2641       Cabletron's VlanHello Protocol Version 4      August 1999


  Port number

     This 4-octet field contains the logical number of the local port
     for which the event was generated.

  Port neighbor switch identifier

     This 10-octet field contains the internal identifier of the
     neighbor switch discovered on the port.  The identifier consists
     of the 6-octet physical (MAC) address of the neighbor switch,
     followed by the 4-octet logical port number (local to the neighbor
     switch) on which the neighbor was discovered.

  Port neighbor IP address

     This 4-octet field contains the Internet Protocol (IP) address of
     the neighbor switch.

  Neighbor chassis MAC address

     This 6-octet field contains the physical (MAC) address of the
     chassis of the neighbor switch.

  Neighbor chassis IP address

     This 4-octet field contains the Internet Protocol (IP) address of
     the chassis of the neighbor switch.

  Neighbor functional level

     This 4-octet field contains the functional level of the neighbor
     switch, as determined by the version level of the SecureFast VLAN
     software under which this switch is operating.  Valid values are
     as follows:

     1  The switch is running a version of SFVLAN prior to Version 1.8.
     2  The switch is running SFVLAN Version 1.8 or greater.

  Topology agent

     This 4-octet field contains a pointer to the topology agent that
     generated the event.  The pointer here can reference any of the
     topology agents that send Interswitch Keepalive messages -- that
     is, any agent running the VlanHello protocol.







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RFC 2641       Cabletron's VlanHello Protocol Version 4      August 1999


  Next event

     This 4-octet field contains a pointer to the next event relay
     structure in the list.

2.4 Timers

  The VlanHello protocol uses three timers.

  o  Send Hello timer.  The Send Hello timer is used to control the
     interval at which Interswitch Keepalive messages are sent.

  o  Aging timer.  The Aging Timer is used to detect when communication
     with a neighboring switch has been lost.

  o  Going to Access timer.  The Going to Access timer is used to
     synchronize the transition of a port state to Access and prevent a
     port from being prematurely designation as an Access port during
     network initialization.  If an Unknown port receives any packet
     other than an Interswitch Keepalive message, the port state is set
     to Going To Access.  If the switch receives an Interswitch
     Keepalive message over that port before the timer expires, the
     port state is changed to Network. Otherwise, when the timer
     expires, the port state is changed to Access.

3. InterSwitch Message Protocol

  The VlanHello protocol operates as part of the InterSwitch Message
  Protocol (ISMP) -- part of Cabletron's SecureFast VLAN (SFVLAN)
  product, as described in [IDsfvlan].  ISMP provides a consistent
  method of encapsulating and transmitting network control messages
  exchanged between SFVLAN switches.

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

  o  Frame header
  o  ISMP packet header
  o  ISMP message body












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RFC 2641       Cabletron's VlanHello Protocol Version 4      August 1999


3.1 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.  The destination address fields of all ISMP
     packets contain a value of 01-00-1D-00-00-00.

  Source address

     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.  The type field of ISMP packets contains the value 0x81FD.














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RFC 2641       Cabletron's VlanHello Protocol Version 4      August 1999


3.2 ISMP Packet Header

  The ISMP packet header 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 /////////////////////////////////////////:
     +//////// (14 octets)  /////////+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
  12 |///////////////////////////////|         ISMP Version          |
     +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
  16 |       ISMP message type       |        Sequence number        |
     +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
  20 |  Code length  |                                               |
     +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+                                               +
     |                        Authentication code                    |
     :                                                               :
     |                                                               |
     +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
     |                                                               |
     :                                                               :


  Frame header

     This 14-octet field contains the frame header.

  ISMP Version

     This 2-octet field contains the version number of the InterSwitch
     Message Protocol to which this ISMP packet adheres.  The VlanHello
     protocol uses ISMP Version 3.0.

  ISMP message type

     This 2-octet field contains a value indicating which type of ISMP
     message is contained within the message body. VlanHello
     Interswitch Keepalive messages have a message type of 2.

  Sequence number

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





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RFC 2641       Cabletron's VlanHello Protocol Version 4      August 1999


  Code length

     This 1-octet field contains the number of octets in the
     Authentication code field of the message.

  Authentication code

     This variable-length field contains an encoded value used for
     authentication of the ISMP message.

3.3 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.

  The format of the VlanHello Interswitch Keepalive message is
  described in the next section.

































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RFC 2641       Cabletron's VlanHello Protocol Version 4      August 1999


4. Interswitch Keepalive Message

  The VlanHello Interswitch Keepalive 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                      :
      |                                                               |
      +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
    n |            Version            |      Switch IP address ...    |
      +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
  n+4 |    ... Switch IP address      |                               |
      +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+                               +
  n+8 |                                                               |
      +                           Switch ID                           +
      |                                                               |
      +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
 n+16 |                                                               |
      +      Chassis MAC address      +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
      |                               |      Chassis IP address ...   |
      +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
 n+24 |   ... Chassis IP address      |          Switch type          |
      +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
 n+28 |                        Functional level                       |
      +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
 n+32 |                            Options                            |
      +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
 n+36 |        Base MAC count         |                               |
      +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+                               +
 n+40 |                                                               |
      :                        Base MAC entries                       :
      |                                                               |
      +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

         n = 21 + length of the authentication code of the packet


  Frame header/ISMP packet header

     This variable-length field contains the frame header and the ISMP
     packet header.






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RFC 2641       Cabletron's VlanHello Protocol Version 4      August 1999


  Version

     This 2-octet field contains the version number of the VlanHello
     protocol to which this message adheres.  This document describes
     VlanHello Version 4.

  Switch IP address

     This 4-octet field contains the Internet Protocol (IP) address of
     the sending switch.

  Switch ID

     This 10-octet field contains the internal ISMP identifier of the
     sending switch.  The identifier is generated by the sending switch
     and consists of the 6-octet physical (MAC) address of the switch,
     followed by a 4-octet value containing the logical port number
     over which the switch sent the packet.

  Chassis MAC

     This 6-octet field contains the physical (MAC) address of the
     chassis of the sending switch.

  Chassis IP address

     This 4-octet field contains the Internet Protocol (IP) address of
     the switch chassis.

  Switch type

     This 2-octet field contains the type of the switch. Currently, the
     only value recognized here is as follows:

        2   The switch is an SFVLAN switch.

  Functional level

     This 4-octet field contains the functional level of the sending
     switch, as determined by the version level of the SecureFast VLAN
     software under which this switch is operating.  Valid values are
     as follows:

        1  The switch is running a version of SFVLAN prior to Version
           1.8.
        2  The switch is running SFVLAN Version 1.8 or greater.





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RFC 2641       Cabletron's VlanHello Protocol Version 4      August 1999


  Options

     This 4-octet field contains a bit map specifying the features of
     the switch.  Bit assignments are as follows:

        1       (unused)
        2       The switch is a VLAN switch.
        4       The switch has link state capability.
        8       The switch has loop-free flood path capability.
        16      The switch has resolve capability.
        32      (unused)
        64      The switch has tag-based flood capability.
        128     The switch has tap capability.
        256     The switch has message connection capability.
        512     The switch has redundant access capability.
        1024    The switch is an isolated switch.
        4096    The switch is an uplink. (SFVLAN V1.8 only)
        8192    The switch is an uplink to core. (SFVLAN V1.8 only)
        16384   The port is an uplink port. (SFVLAN V1.8 only)
        32768   The port is an uplink flood port. (SFVLAN V1.8 only)

  Base MAC count

     This 2-octet field contains the number of entries in the list of
     Base MAC entries.

  Base MAC entries

     This variable-length field contains a list of entries for all
     neighboring switches that the sending switch has previously
     discovered on the port over which the message was sent. The number
     of entries is found in the Base MAC count field.

     Each MAC entry is 10 octets long, structured as follows:

      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
     +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
     |                                                               |
     +      Switch MAC address       +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
     |                               |  Assigned neighbor state ...  |
     +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
     |  ... Assigned neighbor state  |
     +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+







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RFC 2641       Cabletron's VlanHello Protocol Version 4      August 1999


  Switch MAC address

     This 6-octet field contains the base MAC address of the
     neighboring switch.

  Assigned neighbor state

     This 4-octet field contains the assigned state of the neighboring
     switch as perceived by the sending switch. Currently, the only
     value valid here is 3, indicating a state of Network

5. Security Considerations

  Security concerns are not addressed in this document.

6. References

  [RFC1700]   Reynolds, J. and  J. Postel, "Assigned Numbers", STD 2,
              RFC 1700, October 1994.

  [IDsfvlan]  Ruffen, D., Len, T. and J. Yanacek, "Cabletron's
              SecureFast VLAN Operational Model", RFC 2643, August
              1999.

  [IDvlsp]    Kane, L., "Cabletron's VLS Protocol Specification", RFC
              2642, August 1999.

7. Authors' Addresses

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

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


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

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






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RFC 2641       Cabletron's VlanHello Protocol Version 4      August 1999


17.  Full Copyright Statement

  Copyright (C) The Internet Society (1999).  All Rights Reserved.

  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.



















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