Do ATM-based Exchange Points make sense anymore?

Mon Aug 12 13:39:00 UTC 2002

Thus spake "Petri Helenius" <pete at he.iki.fi>
> > What functionality does PVC give you that the ethernet VLAN does not?
> >
> That´s quite easy. Endpoint liveness. A IPv4 host on a VLAN has no idea
> if the guy on the "other end" died until the BGP timer expires.
>
> FR has LMI, ATM has OAM. (and ILMI)

FR LMI and ATM ILMI are so notoriously unreliable at endpoint liveness that FR
EEK and ATM OAM became necessary.  Be glad Ethernet is not stuck with such a
useless "feature".

It would be trivial for someone to write up an "Ethernet EEK" or "IPv4 ND" draft
and submit it to their favorite router vendors for implementation.  If nobody
has done so, it's obviously not that important.

S